MGR - MGRamachandran Part 4 www.tamilnation.org MGR would also make sure that he will teach good manners and discipline to the masses through the movies. Therefore, in the characters he played in 120-odd movies, he would never smoke or take alcoholic drinks. On top of that, he would never physically or mentally abuse women. This self-imposed rigidity restricted the character roles he would play and movie critics ridiculed him for this 'un-natural style' of his characters. But MGR would have the last word. Ultimately, he claimed the respected honorific 'vaathiyar' (teacher) in its proper sense of the word. Call it a mere coincidence or the destiny of Eelam Tamils, that when the liberation struggle began earnestly in 1977, MGR would become the chief minister of the Tamil Nadu. Though his interest in the problems of Eelam Tamils remained passive till 1982, the ethnic holocaust of 1983 kindled his support for the Eelam cause. 1983 also saw the change in guard among the political leaders of the Eelam Tamils. MGR had never felt comfortable with the TULF leadership since he had perceived them as emotionally more close to the DMK leadership. When the leadership mantle in the struggle for Eelam needed a change and a boost, MGR became the god-father of the LTTE and made sure that the 'new born baby' would not suffer a premature death in the hands of wily JRJayewardene... To his allies in politics, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the link that MGR had with the LTTE proved <b>...</b>