From the days of N.S.Krishnan Tamil cinema has seen a long line of comedians like T.S.Dorairaj, K.A,Thangavelu,Chandrababu Nagesh,Cho Ramasamy,Thengai Srinivasan, Surulirajan, Y.G.Mahendran,Goundamani, Senthil,Vivek, Vadivelu, Santhanam ,Soori and Yogi Babu.Of these comedians, NSK, Chandra babu and Vadivelu are specially known for their singing ability and Nagesh and Vadivelu were sparkling dancers too. We could see that there was a conscious or involuntary influence of one comedian upon the other.
Most of these comedians were known for their verbal wield. Especially after NSK, excepting Chandrabhabu,Y,G.Mahendran and Senthil all the others delivered dialogues,with a vibrant thrust on clarity of words. Chandrabhabu and Senthil are known for their unique mannerisms with the former letting his tongue dance: and Senthil smoothening his words with a kind of exquisite satire and style,letting his fellow comedian Goundamani fall into his trap. However, most often his attempts would backfire and create hilarious outbursts.
Y.G.Mahendran could churn and munch his words to create a special impact. Yogi Babu is a close follower of Goundamani and Santhanam confined himself to one liner bits, each hitting the ears of the audience as straight blows. After NSK, it was Vivek who deliberately included rationalism and social values, in his comedy segment.
In this list of comedians,Sattanadhapuram Venkatraman Sekar popularly known as S.Ve.Shekher is the missing link,in the sense that his film journey went on like either sporadic rains,or singular storms. Here is a film personality, who has the excellent capacity for creating a special impact through vigorous verbal throws, cleanly sweeping the goal he has set.This has been possible for him purely on account of his close association with the stage, like NSK,Cho Ramasamy,Visu ,YG Mahendran,Crazy Mohan, and a few others. He had been a vital part of more than thirty plays, enacted on the stage.
Being the son- in- law of the soul making music composer G.Ramanathan, and having been introduced to Tamil cinema by the veteran film maker K.Balachander, S.Ve. Shekhar's journey through the Tamil screen, was greatly eventful and meaningful.Though he played first, a small role in KB's film Ninaithale Inikkum, his second film Varumaiyin Niram Sivappu by the same film maker, showed S.Ve.Shekhar as Thambu, in a character capable of mixing powerful emotions with dialogues with infallible clarity and commitment.S.V.Shekher made his role memorable in that film. After this Kamalahasan film, Shekher again joined Kamal in 'Simla Special'.
Next to KB,it was Visu who brought the acting core of S,Ve Shekher with dramatic efficacy. emotional galaxy,and sharp delivery of dialogues, plunged in pungent satire and power-packed performance. Though Visu was only a dialogue writer for Kudumbam Oru Kadhambam,the other seven films Manal Kayiru,Dowri Kalyanam, Chidambara Ragasiyam,Thirumadhi Oru Vegumathi, Vedikkai en Vaadikkai,Naanayamillaa Naanayam and Sigamani Ramamani,directed by Visu, gave him immense opportunity to demonstrate his strength as an actor,through the contextually relevant sarcastically calculated dialogues of Visu.
His four films with director Rama Narayanan such as Sahadhevan Mahadhevan {with Mohan} Thangamani Rengamani {with Murali}Thirupathi Ezhumalai Venkatesa,and Kandha Kadamba Kathir Vela {both with Prabhu} were happy-go-lucky films,with a lot of humour embedded in dialogues. His other most popular films include,Veedu Manaivi Makkal (with Visu) Lakshmi Vandaachu with Sivaji Ganesan, Mr.Bharath with Rajinikanth, Payanangal Mudivadhillai and Kopurangal Saaivadhillai both with Mohan, Adhsiyap piravikal with Prabhu and Karthik Muthuraman, and above all Fazil's felicitous film,Poove Poochoodavaa.The other most unforgettable comedy show of S.Ve.Shekher was Kadhanaygan, which was the Tamil remake of the Malayalam hit Nadodikkaattu.This film with Shekher and Pandiarajan, was a mega roller coaster ride in humour,letting the audience laugh louder.
Besides these films,others like Pondaatti Raajiyam and Pondaattiye Dheivam, were moderate entertainers. Shehker also directed a film called Krishna Krishna.Later Shekher took up elderly roles as father and uncle, in films like Arasaatchi,Jithan,Shankar's Jeans and Vallavan. After the failure of his Manal Kayiru 2,the last film that S.Ve Shekher appeared was in the role of a Judge, in 'Traffic Ramasamy' starring S.A.Chandrasekar in the titular role.
What is different about S.Ve.Shekher is the strange character names he got in films, such as Kittumani,Sigamani{in three films} Rengamani,Manghubadhi,and Nallamuthu.He has always been the best bet for the roles of a simpleton, and a naive guy. He played one of the four village idiots called Nallamuthu, among the other three idiots known as Naachimuthu{Prabhu} Thangamuthu{Karthik Muthuraman}and Kathamuthu {Y.G.Magend ran}
It was a long journey for Shekher in the Tamil film industry, and his contribution to Tamil cinema, is no less significant than that of other actors. S,Ve,Shekher has always been a dedicated performer of roles with humour, poise and compact acceptability. However, his place in Tamil cinema, has been foreshadowed by his controversial and unstable political journey, by shifting his political loyalty from one party to the other. Perhaps this periodical political interruption has thrown spikes on the pathways to his eligible stardom. In the midst of his political shuffles, it should be mentioned here, that he was a member of the Tamil Nadu State Legislature between 2006 and 2011, as a representative of the AIADMK party. Now he seems to be a member of the ruling DMK party.
The unique merit of S.Ve.Shekher is his impressive thought process, merging with spontaneous verbal efficacy emerging from an intelligent grasp of events, be it cinema, or politics. Besides acting, he has also been a dubbing artist, lending his voice to Mohan for the film Moodu Pani.Moreover,he is also a Television serial actor,with his pivotal contribution to serials like Vannathirai {D.D}Galaattaa Sirippu{Sun TV} and Meenakshi Sundaram {Kalaignar TV}.
S.Ve.Shekher as an actor, is an inseparable combination of comedy sense,and sobriety. He befits himself comfortably with his fellow actors,be it Kamalahasan or Rajinikanth, Prabhu or Mohan or Murali.His verbosity is a flowing stream of words wedded to ideas, because of being a product of the stage,and a film actor groomed by veterans like K.Balachander, and Visu. It is unfortunate that he could not continuously travel on the cinema track, despite his exemplary flair for humour,and his frame of mind for a fair and neat performance of any role, assigned to him.
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