Veteran comedian Nagesh is no more
“I had no idea of the character. But the moment I was dressed, the clothes and the make-up made me feel the person he was. I began to know him, and by the time I walked onto the stage he was fully born” says Charlie Chaplin. But this also suits our great time Comedian Nagesh who passed away this morning. Nagesh is a self-taught man who believes that an actor can learn from watching life and its characters. He often sat in his car in busy roadsides and watched the people on the streets to grasp the mannerisms of people that he would later reproduce on screen.
Nagesh was the only comedian to have acted with both MGR and Sivaji. Later on he had a fall out with MGR and it led to his removal from many films. He is also a character artist who moved the masses to tears with his sensitive performance in films like ‘Neer Kumizhi’ and ‘Edhir Neechal’. It was producer Balaji who spotted him and gave him his first break in films. The most memorable performance of Nagesh out of the 1000 odd films he has acted in is his role in ‘Thiruvillayadal’ in which he speaks a soliloquy that is one of the most memorable scenes in the film. He played a poet falling on bad times in the film.
His remarkable performance includes Kathalika Neramillai and Thillana Mohannambal. He was 77.Nagesh was suffering from diabetes and a heart ailment. He is survived by three sons, including actor Anand Babu.
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Your note “Nagesh was the only comedian to have acted with both MGR and Sivaji” is not correct. Many other legends like Chandra Babu, Danal Thangavelu and others also had their chances to act with Greats MGR and Sivaji.