Udumalai Narayana Kavi

Udumalai Narayana Kavi (1899-1981) was born to a poor family in Poolavadi, a small village in Udumalpet taluk, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India. He is a proud son of Tamil nadu and belongs to the 24 manai Telugu chettiars [ [http://www.24manai.com 24 Manai Telugu Chettiar Website ] ] . He is remembered for writing several lyrics that were used in the freedom movement in his early days and between 1950 to 1972, he wrote popular lyrics for several Kollywood movies. His parents died at a very young age and poverty deprived him of school when young. With the help of his brother, he made a small living selling match boxes to the near by villages. Even when young he had a keen interest in play and music. He initially started off acting in plays at the local temple and then got connected with some leading play groups in Tamil Nadu. Today's Kollywood is an amalgamation of several of those play groups. He slowly made way into writing lyrics for various movies. Several of the movies that he wrote lyrics for were box office hits including Velaikari, Nallathambi, Poompuhar, Manohara. He was affectionately called as "Kaviraayar" in the movie industry. In respect for his contribution to Tamil and its people, the government of Tamil Nadu has erected a memorial for him at Udumalpet [ [http://www.tn.gov.in/tamiltngov/memorial/default.htm Memorials of Emminent Personalities ] ] . What made Narayana Kavi very popular was his ability to use simple language that could be understood by even peasants. He passed away in 1981.

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