Monday, May 19, 2008
Palakkad Tamil in Tamil Movies
Lots of Tamil Directors have used Palakkad Tamil in their movies. The Palakkad Tamil is a mixture of tamil and malayalam. Palakkad Iyers use that extensively but other caste tamils wont use that much comparatively.
The one who made this language a mega hit is Padmashree. Kamal Hasan in the movie Michael Madana Kamarajan, a mega hit movie. Kamal Hassan's Kameshwaran character and Urvashi's Tiruppura Sundari character both acted as Palakkad Bhramin, rocked the screen.
Another notable movie is Nala Damayanthi acted by Madhavan. His character Ramji a cook from Palakkad is widely appreciated by the audience. He used to say he is from a small village called Thatamangalam but the truth is it a small town not village.
Actor like Jayaram who himself is a Palakkad Bhramin has acted as Palakkadan in lots of movies....
Tamils of Palakkad
Disclaimer: The Tamils mentioned in this blog are native people not the migrant Tamil workers.
About Palakkad::
Palakkad is a land of palm trees and paddy fields. It's known to be rich in flora and fauna. Etymologically Palakkad is derived from the words Pala and Kadu. Pala, (Alstonia scholaris) is a tree with sweet scented flowers and Kadu meaning forest.
Palakkad has probably the biggest mountain pass in the world (30-40 Kms) separating the two folds of the
Tamils of Palakkad::
Palakkad is a Tamil-majority city. There is data on the age-old presence of Tamils in Palakkad. But we always felt that Tamils constituted a significantly scanty minority community in Kerala. Nonetheless, the presence of the Tamils was omnipresent. The installation of messages, in Tamil as well as Malayalam, on socially consequential placards, in various sites of Palakkad, was unexpected. Even the Malayalis in Palakkad can understand Tamil. The Tamils could converse in pristine Malayalam as well as their own mother tongue.
In Tamil Hindus the majority are Iyers, they are called Palakkad Iyers or Pattars. There is a famous saying about them in Kerala "Pattaril Pottanilla" There is no fool among Kerala Iyers. There are other caste people like Gounders, Nadars, Chettiars, Mudaliyar and Pillai's etc.
In Tamil Muslims it is mainly Rowthers and their strong presence can be found in Palakkad market and in villages of south Palakkad.
Tamil Christian's presence can be found in the borders of south Palakkad and they are mainly Roman Catholics and belongs to a caste named Vanniyar.
Famous Tamil celebrities from Palakkad::
1. M.G.Ramachandran-(MGR)-Actor and politician
2. M.S.Viswanathan-(MSV)-Music Director
http://www.msviswanathan.com/
3. Vidya Balan-Bollywood Actress
http://www.vidya-balan.com/
4. Trisha Krishnan-Kollywood Actress
http://www.trisha-krishnan.com/index.html
5. Priya Mani-Kollywood Actress
http://www.priyamani.info/index.htm
6.Mani Iyer-Mridangam
7. Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar-Carnatic Music singer
http://chembaismruthi.org/