T. R. Mahalingam

Thenkarai Ramakrishna Mahalingam, often called TRM is a famous singer, actor, and composer of music of the bygone era. He is renowned for his portrayal of the role of Murugan in the feature film Sri Valli in the year 1945. He sang Kaayathe Kaanagathe in this movie, under AVM Productions banner.

TRM is born in the year 1924. He entered the field of glamor at a young age. His debut is a mythological movie named Nandakumar in 1937. This two hours thirty-six-minute film shows us the tomfoolery of Lord Krishna during his childhood. He next worked with T C Vadivelu Naicker for the film Sati Murali in the year 1940. Later, he has acted in films like Nam Iruvar, Parijatam, Agathiyar, etc.

T R Mahalingam directed a movie named Chinna Durai in which he played a multi-role. TRM created this film with his banner Sri Sukumar Productions. T R Mahalingam’s son Sukumar is the inspiration for his production company’s name. TRM contributed the song Nilave Neethan Oru to this motion picture released in 1952. The movie is an enthralling tale of how TRM manages to seduce the female protagonists. The film involves many twists as T R Mahalingam plays a double role and eases the tension between two sisters.

After his stint as a director, TRM played his part in many movies like Maalaiyitta Mangai (1958), Aadavantha Deivam (1960), Thiruneelakander (1972), and Sri Krishna Leela (1977). In the initial stages of his career, T R Mahalingam typically worked with companies like Modern Theatres and AVM Productions. He eventually moved to his own enterprise Sukumar Productions Limited, under which he produced and acted in six films between 1950 and 1954. More than his acting,

T R Mahalingam is valued for his prowess as a vocalist. T R Mahalingam used to mimic S G Kittappa, a veteran singer, during his elementary years in the industry. After S G Kittappa’s demise, T R Mahalingam had big shoes to fill and took up the challenge with ease. TRM sang over ninety songs in his career as a songster, just within the movies he acted. Many people from the film fraternity admire T R Mahalingam’s high-pitched voice. He also sang in low-pitch, especially Kanngalin Vennilave song from the 1959 motion picture Manimekalai, which is also sung by P Bhanumathi, a renowned multifaceted star.

T R Mahalingam’s frequent collaborators in music include T G Lingappa, G Ramanathan, K V Mahadevan and S V Venkatraman. T R Mahalingam used to lend his voice mostly for devotional or romantic theme songs. In a partnership with Kannadasan, TRM sang for the movie Maalaiyitta Mangal in the year 1958. The most admired song is Vengiyum Kumari, which is the title song in high-pitched TRM’s vocals, under the supervision of Ramamoorthy-Vishwanathan duo.

T R Mahalingam died at the age of 58 in 1978, but his melodious voice lives on in music lovers’ hearts forever. Such is his dedication towards singing. Today, even after almost three and a half decades, many of TRM’s hits like Unnai Kana Engum, Aasai Konden Amuthame, Senthamizh Naadennum, etc. are perpetually in his fans’ memory.

Another Version

T.R. Mahalingam was a film actor, music composer, and singer. He was born on June 16, 1924, in Thenkarai, India. He was famous for his songs, which were based on romantic as well as devotional themes. He passed away on April 21, 1978. He started his career as an actor and a singer at an early age. He appeared in plays when he was young, which were called special dramas back then.

He started his training as a singer at the time when microphones or amplifiers were rarely present. He faced stressed voice projection and had to sing loudly as to be audible to everyone in the auditorium. In 1933, he got his first break in the film industry when the prominent singer Kittappa died at an early age. When he was 14-years-old, he got a chance to act in the movie Nandakumar, the movie was based on the story of Lord-Krishna and he was chosen to play the lead role,

Although the movie was a big flop at the box office in all the languages (Hindi, Tamil and, Marathi). He got his big break in the movie Sri Valli, which was made at the height of the Second World War, and he played the role of Lord Murugan. It did well at the box office, and it was the time when he gained fame as an actor and a singer.