Tamil Nadu Timeline

CinemaRise of Dravidian rule

MGR wins the Bharat Award for Best Actor

· Chennai

M. G. Ramachandran won the national Best Actor (Bharat) award for Rickshawkaran, the first South Indian actor to receive it.

At the 19th National Film Awards, announced on 1 May 1972, M. G. Ramachandran won the Best Actor award, then called the Bharat Award, for the 1971 film Rickshawkaran. He was the first South Indian actor to receive the award. The film, released on 29 May 1971, was a major commercial success. The award was criticised by some who alleged that political influence played a part.

Related events

  1. 1917

    1. 1917ChennaiCinema

      Keechaka Vadham, the first South Indian film

      R. Nataraja Mudaliar's silent film Keechaka Vadham, the first film made in South India, was released in 1917 or 1918.

  2. 1931

    1. 31 Oct 1931ChennaiCinema

      Kalidas, the first Tamil talkie, released

      Released in 1931, H. M. Reddy's Kalidas was the first Tamil film with sound and opened the era of Tamil talkies.

  3. 1975

    1. 1975ChennaiLiterature

      Akilan becomes the first Tamil writer to win the Jnanpith

      Novelist Akilan received the Jnanpith Award for his novel Chithirappavai, the first for a Tamil writer.

    2. 15 Aug 1975ChennaiCulture

      Television arrives in Madras with Doordarshan Kendra

      Doordarshan began television broadcasts from Madras, the first TV station in South India.

  4. 1976

    1. 14 May 1976ChennaiCinema

      Annakili released; Ilaiyaraaja's film debut

      Ilaiyaraaja's first film score, for Annakili, carried rural folk music into the Tamil cinema mainstream.

  5. 1977

    1. 15 Sep 1977ChennaiCinema

      Bharathiraja's 16 Vayathinile released

      Bharathiraja's first film, 16 Vayathinile, with Kamal Haasan, Sridevi and Rajinikanth, moved Tamil cinema from studio sets to real village settings.

Open in the timeline explorer