R.M. Veerappan centenary salutes a political gentleman

R.M. Veerappan’s centenary brought together figures from cinema, politics, education and the judiciary to remember a man who moved between two powerful worlds without allowing either to define him completely. The September 9 gathering in Chennai returned repeatedly to the same qualities: discipline, personal integrity and a remarkably civil way of exercising political power.

Veteran filmmaker S.P. Muthuraman put that feeling plainly. “All sorts of things happen in politics today. But RMV conducted politics with dignity and civility,” he said. “The purpose of this gathering is to inspire the creation of politicians like him.”

S. Jagathrakshakan, MP and president of the Chennai Kamban Kazhagam, remembered Veerappan as an unusually clean presence in public life. “It is difficult to find someone as untainted as RMV in politics. He always wanted to do something for the people,” he said, adding that memories of him still carried the pain of his absence.

Former Madras High Court judge Suresh Kumar argued that Veerappan’s example had particular value for a generation losing touch with sacrifice, affection and personal discipline. He also placed a concrete request before the Tamil Nadu government: name the Chennai road on which Veerappan lived after him. Dr M.G.R. University chancellor A.C. Shanmugam said Veerappan may have been known as a political Chanakya, but his life offered a larger lesson in how a person ought to live.

For film audiences, Veerappan’s legacy stretches from the M.G. Ramachandran era to Rajinikanth’s defining years. His production record includes Rickshawkaran, Moondru Mugam and Baashha, while his work as a screenwriter and producer reached across several languages. The story behind Rajinikanth’s charged speech at the Baashha 100th-day celebration remains one of the sharpest examples of how tightly Veerappan’s cinema and political lives could intersect.

That production lineage continues through his son-in-law T.G. Thyagarajan, who organised the centenary programme and welcomed the gathering. Under Sathya Jyothi Films, the family connection to cinema has moved through generations of stars and now extends to films such as Captain Miller, whose National Awards added to a seven-decade record.

Veerappan was born on September 9, 1926, and died in April 2024. He worked closely with leaders of the Dravidian movement, including Periyar and C.N. Annadurai, before joining M.G. Ramachandran when he founded the AIADMK. Veerappan later served in the cabinets of both MGR and J. Jayalalithaa, holding ministerial office five times between 1977 and 1996.

His family organised the centenary tribute, attended by Muthuraman, filmmaker P. Vasu, poet Muthulingam, former Union minister S. Thirunavukkarasar and representatives from public life. Amid the recollections of hit films and political strategy, the appeal to put Veerappan’s name on the road where he lived gave the remembrance a specific next step.