What followed was MGR introducing a change in Bhanumathi’s character.
Nadodi Mannan was released in 1958 and was a huge success.
Bhanumathi Ramakrishna and M.G. Ramachandran were among the two most successful actors in Tamil cinema. They have left behind a legacy of classic films that will keep entertaining the audience for decades to come. Despite the wonderful on-screen chemistry they shared on set, there was a time when both were involved in a small fight. This fight occurred during the shooting of Nadodi Mannan. When MGR was shooting a scene multiple times, infuriated Bhanumathi had a tiff with him.
According to reports, Bhanumathi angrily asked how much time would MGR take for a scene. Bhanumathi was so furious that she asked him to take someone else in Nadodi Mannan instead of her. The Samrat Ashok actress had made up her mind to leave this film.
No one on the sets had expected that Bhanumathi would behave like that. MGR had also not expected that Bhanumathi would criticise him so harshly. He was not used to the fact that other actors would speak against him. Feeling insulted, he made up his mind to get even with Bhanumathi.
What followed was MGR introducing a change in Bhanumathi’s character. According to this change, Bhanumathi’s character would die in the first half of the film. Actress Saroja Devi B. was roped in to complete the rest of the film. Nadodi Mannan was released in 1958 and was a huge success. Despite the success, there was a conflict now between MGR and Bhanumathi. This conflict stopped both artists from working in any more films together.
Apart from MGR, Bhanumathi and Saroja Devi B., M.N. Nambiar, M.N. Rajam, M.G. Chakrapani, P.S. Veerappa was also part of the film. Nadodi Mannan narrates the story of Veerangan who meets his lookalike prince Marthandan. Marthandan is poisoned by a priest who wants the throne for himself. Veerangan eventually takes his place and begins a series of reforms not liked by many people. Veerangan has been projected as someone who loves democracy.
