Tribute to Kumar, the young Murugan in Avvaiyar

Actor P.N. Kumar became famous for the ‘sutta pazham’ scene in the film Avvaiyar

Remember the ‘Sutta Pazham’ scene from Gemini’s 1953 film Avvaiyar? To many it remains the iconic moment in the movie. While it is true that K.B. Sundarambal largely carried the film, its success also had much to do with S.S. Vasan keeping a finger on the public pulse when it came to production values and pre-release publicity. The ‘Sutta Pazham’ scene, which lasts all of ten minutes, however, belonged entirely to P.N. Kumar, who played the role of Balamurugan in it. He, in fact, greatly influenced the way the youthful South Indian deity would be depicted thereafter in films, calendar art and statuary. Born in August 1940 to P.S. Narayanan and Lakshmi at No 3, East Chitrakulam Street, Mylapore, Kumar was influenced significantly by his maternal grandfather, the famed Tamil science writer, P.N. Appuswami. He studied at Children’s Garden School and later at P.S. High School. In 1950, he enrolled at Besant Theosophical School, Adyar, when his grandfather moved to the then newly established Gandhi Nagar colony.