4 min readFeb 8, 2026 06:53 PM IST
First published on: Feb 8, 2026 at 06:42 PM IST
A Tamil film song from the ’70s, starring MGR, was performed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Malaysia, offering a cultural aside within a wider set of diplomatic and strategic engagements. At a lunch hosted by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a track from ‘Naalai Namadhe’, played in the background, with PM Modi later highlighting the shared cultural memory between the two countries.
The reference carries political and cultural resonance as Tamil Nadu is set to head to Assembly elections this year, and the Tamil identity continues to shape political discourse in the state.
Malaysia is home to nearly three million people of Indian descent — the second-largest Indian diaspora globally — with an overwhelming majority of Tamil origin. PM Modi used the occasion to underline how language and culture remain a living bridge between the two nations.
MGR & the diaspora bridge
PM Modi also drew attention to his Malaysian counterpart’s admiration for MGR, a towering figure in Tamil cinema and politics. “At the lunch hosted by my friend, PM Anwar Ibrahim, one of the songs sung was ‘Naalai Namadhe’, from a movie starring the great MGR!” he wrote on X. He added that Anwar Ibrahim, “like several of us in India, is a big fan of MGR”.
Who was MGR
MGR (Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran) founded the AIADMK and went on to serve as Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister before his death in 1987.
He was born in Kandy, Sri Lanka in 1917 to a family of devout Hindus. Ironically, later in his career, he would make a name for himself in a party and political movement that shunned Brahmanical Hindu philosophies and mooted for social equality. However, before MGR became a shining political figure, it was the Tamil film industry that paved his way to popularity.
MGR made his debut film Sathi Leelavathi in 1936. It was in 1950 though that he made his major breakthrough with the film Manthiri Kumari directed by his future political rival M Karunanidhi. Generally starring in romantic or action movies, MGR directly appealed to the sentiments of Tamilians with films that were easily identifiable by both the rich and the poor. MGR was the biggest name in Tamil film industry right until his death in 1987. By then he had also been elected chief minister four consecutive times.
Tamil connect across borders
“India and Malaysia are also connected by a shared affection for the Tamil language,” PM Modi said, pointing to its visibility across education, media and cultural life in Malaysia.
Addressing a community programme, PM Modi said the Indian diaspora continues to act as a strong link between India and Malaysia. Drawing from this shared history, he said India had already set up the Thiruvalluvar Chair at the University of Malaya and would now establish a Thiruvalluvar centre to further strengthen cultural ties.
Modi linked this cultural presence to a fresh audio-visual agreement signed during the visit. “I am confident that today’s audio-visual agreement will bring our hearts even closer through films and music,” he said, adding that Tamil cinema would play a key role in that exchange.
Placing Tamil language at the centre of the connection, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday spoke about cultural links between India and Malaysia.
Malaysia is home to nearly three million people of Indian descent -- the second-largest Indian diaspora globally -- with an overwhelming majority of Tamil origin. (PTI Photo) 
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