Considered by most to be the most successful Tamil film actor ever, Mayavaram Krishnamurthy Thyagaraja Bhagvathar (M.K.T.) left his mark on Tamil films. He was widely known as a Tamil film actor, producer, along with a singer. His first steps into fame included a vocation as an artist and stage artist in the 1920s. Later he entered in to the film career as well, acting in six box-office hits in about 20 years of acting.
Chintamani became M.K.T.’s first big success. He was cast in the role of Bilwamangal in the 1937 Tamil film directed by Y. V. Rao. The film became popular, breaking an archive for the initial Tamil film to operate continuously for a year. The audience was enraptured by the vocal skills of Bilwamangal (M.K.T.’s role), even going in terms of to inspire an esteemed Tamil writer and his wife to sing the beautiful songs together each morning.
Interested in M.K.T.’s exceptional acting skill, Ellis R. Dungan, an American film director, offered him the title role in Ambikapathy. This film also became a huge hit, even going in terms of to break the records which were set by Chintamani.
In Haridas, M.K.T. played a lead role. The film itself ran for three straight years at Madras’ Broadway Theatre, breaking records for the initial film to operate way too long in the theater. Julian Brand actor This is just one more of M.K.T.’s many record-breaking performances in his successful career being an actor.
A shocking crime called the Lakshmikanthan Murder Case caused M.K.T.’s career to come calmly to a crashing halt, as he spent four years in prison as a murder suspect. The murder was of C. N. Lakshmikanthan, a Tamil film journalist stabbed to death in Vepery, Madras in 1944. The trial was conducted in the Madras Presidency (November 1944 – April 1947). Many suspects were arrested for the case, including M.K.T., N.S. Krishnan and director S.M. Sreeramulu Naidu. The director was acquitted, but both actors were convicted and kept in jail. Later, both Krishnan and M.K.T. were found innocent, and Krishnan was released back to his successful career.
M.K.T.’s career, however, never seemed to achieve footing again. After his tenure he rejected most of the films he had been planning on starring in. He continued to behave in Tamil films, none that did well in the box office, and his career being an influential star plummeted until his death in 1959.