Murali is no more! The news was shocking when it first broke this morning. It was difficult to believe at first. Was it the same Murali who acted in Idhayam, Vettrikodi Kattu and several other lovely films all these years? Was it the same Murali who was forever the ‘barely out of college’ young man of Tamil cinema? Was this the same Murali who was acknowledged playfully but truly as the evergreen youngster of Tamil cinema? It could not be. But, yes, it was. Murali is no more and Tamil cinema will have a void that will be hard to fill.
It is not that we are not used to the news of many of our favorite actors passing away while a lot was still left in them. But, the news of Murali’s demise was shocking because this image of evergreen youth that always went with him. The charm about him was that he never tried to be young or appear so; it was just a part of him. He never had to build a six pack, change his hairstyle, wear designer clothes or accessories to appear young for a role; youth was within him.
Come to think of it, he has never aged in cinema,
not once since he first entered the field in the mid 80s. Many would playfully say that even after 25 years in cinema, he was yet to pass out of college. True to that rather witty remark he was seen as a college student even in his final film appearance, a cameo in Baana Kaathadi which was also the debut of his son Atharva. Knowing this brings in very mixed emotions because of its irony and at the same time puts a mild smile across your face; yes, dad was there for his son and did what he was best at. A bit of pain, a bit of hope and a faint smile. That is just the way many of Murali’s films have been over the years. Not one has been a big budget extravaganza, no big action, no foreign locales, no powerful dialogues, no great statements, just simple slices of life that everyone could connect to, cry, smile and hope for the character.
It was perhaps this nature of his movies that endeared him to the audience. Yes, he was never a huge ‘star’ in the stereotypical way in which we use the term. He was not associated with grand openings, fans’ associations or anything of that sort, but he was a people’s actor, a families’ favorite. One cannot recall one film of his that would have made a family audience uncomfortable. Yes, he was a star, because he was an actor whom audiences trusted and loved.
In a career spanning nearly three decades, there have been many times when he had been briefly missing from the scene. But, he always came back and it was as if nothing had changed, Murali always remained the same. While many of his contemporaries completely disappeared or resurfaced as character actors, he always remained the young man who played the simple but effective lead character. In the film industry, actors have to constantly reinvent themselves to stay in the fray. But Murali was one who never reinvented himself, he just remained himself and that was good enough. And, even after being in the industry for all these years, there has not been one controversy raised around him, such was his character.
Murali may no longer be amidst us, but for all those who have known him as the simple actor who has always been the ‘young man’, he will be remembered affectionately as the evergreen college-goer of Tamil cinema.
Our respects to the Late Murali.
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