M.N. Nambiar, the great actor who set the grammar for villain roles is no more with us. He remained a hero not only among villain actors but in his real life. The legendary villain passed away peacefully on Sept 19, 2008 following a brief illness. He was 88. He is survived by his wife Rukmani, two sons and a daughter.

His evil grin, the manner in which he rubbed his palms and the way he shouts at his subordinate “Jumbu” or “babu” is certainly inimitable. The evilness of his characters would be visible in his expression, voice modulation and body language. He is one of the very few actors who acted with 4 generation of actors, yet retaining his own identity and fame.

His portrayal of bad man in many films opposite charismatic MGR in films like “Ayirathil Oruvan”, “Kudi Iruntha Koyil”, “Manthiri Kumari” won him great acclaim. He remained one of the very few villains who can act opposite the super hero MGR, still give a memorable performance.

He is the only actor who donned 11 roles with ease in the film “dhigambara samiyar”, which was released during 1950s, much before our Dasavatharam.
His arresting performance in films such as “Manthirikumari”, “Velaikkari”, “Ayirathiloruvan”, “thilanamohanambal”, “Missiamma” and “Nenjam marappadillai” paved way for a successful career that spanned over five decades.

There is another beautiful part of him. He was able to distinguish clearly his personal and professional lives. He acted in villain roles true to its character. But in real life he remained a highly disciplined, strict vegetarian and a teetotaler. He took great care of his health and remained fit throughout his life.

More than an actor he was respected for his spirituality. He remained a highly respected spiritual leader and was responsible for taking most of the actors in the tamil film industry to sabarimala.

Actor manorama recalled nambiar as being a very jovial man on the sets. “He was a villain only when the camera got rolling…otherwise, he would always keep us laughing with his ready wit”, she said.

Born in Ooty, Nambiar joined “Nawab Rajamanickam’s drama troupe when he was a teenager and was part of several plays such as “bhakta ramadass” and “krishnaleela” which were runaway hits then.

According to film news anandan, nambiar acted in about 360 films in various languages including tamil, Malayalam, telugu, hindu and Sinhalese. He was also part of an English film “Jungle”.

He went to sabarimala for nearly 60 years and may be God wanted to be with him and not strain himself anymore.