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M. N. Nambiar (7 March 1919 – 19 November 2008), born Manjeri Narayanan Nambiar, was a film actor in Tamil cinema who dominated the industry in the role of villain for around 50 years. Also known as Nambiar swami or Maha Guruswami, he was a spiritual leader who pioneered the movement of taking pilgrims to Sabarimala.

M.N.Nambiar was born on 7th March 1919. While still a child, his father died and so he moved to live and study in Ooty with his elder sister and brother-in-law.

He became interested in acting when he was 13 and he joined Nawab Rajamanikkam\'s troupe. From then on acting became the only thing that occupied him. His first film was \'Bhaktha Ramadoss\', shot in 1935 in Hindi and Tamil, where he played as a comedian along with T.K.Sampangi.

Though he started as a hero, Nambiar Guruswami soon started donning the role of a villain — so much so that today his name is synonymous with villainy in Kollywood. Nambiar swami has worked with seven generations of actors from Balaiyah to Manoj (Bharathiraaja\'s son).

His first pay was Rs.3 in the \"Boys Company.\" He would retain Re 1 and send Rs.2 to his mother. A man of very limited needs, he has never eaten food not cooked by his wife, Rukimini Nambiar. A doyen of kalari & sword fighting, Nambiar swami was a fitness fanatic even before it became fashionable to be so.

He made quite a statement in the early 50s with his portrayal of 11 roles in ‘Digambara Samiyar.’ His arresting performance in films such as ‘Manthiri Kumari,’ ‘Velaikkari, ’ ‘Ayirathil Oruvan,’ ‘Thillana Mohanambal,’ ‘Missiamma’ and ‘Nenjam Marappadillai’ paved way for a very successful career that spanned over five decades.

A majority of the more than 1000 films that he has done is in Tamil, though he has acted in Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi, besides an English film `Jungle\' (with Rod Cameron, the film\'s hero, directed by William Burke) in which he appears in a few brief scenes. The film was released in 1952. The Hindi film he acted in was a remake of the Tamil `Kanavane Kankanda Deivam.\'

After becoming popular in Tamil films he started his own drama troupe called Nambiar Nataka Mandram. They staged two plays — `Kaviyin Kanavu\' and a comedy play `Kalyana Supermarket.\'

Nambiar swami was that rare contradictory personality - a cruel, charming villain on the silver screen while being a very pious man in real life. He was also a pure vegetarian and teetotaler. He was also an ardent devotee of Sabarimala Sri Ayyappan. He has had a long association with the temple, and visited the shrine more than 65 times over the last half a century; this has led to him being called Maha Guruswamy. His colleagues noted that he died during the famous Sabarimala season and it may be due to the blessing of his Lord.

His favourite films remain `Aayirathil Oruvan\' with MGR, `Ambikapathi\' with Sivaji Ganesan, `Missiyamma\' with Gemini Ganesan, `Nenjam Marappathillai\' directed by Sridhar and `Thooral Ninu Pochu\' with Bhagyaraj. This was the film that made him do character roles, something that he continued to do till his death. He also acted as hero in two films `Kalyani\' and `Kavitha\' produced by Modern Theatres.

He has done stage, films and also acted on TV dramas like \'Oviyam\' and Velan. When it comes to acting, he supposedly likes all the actors; but of special mention are M. R. Radha and Savitri. Both, in his opinion, were brilliant in their own way.