Inclusive Tamil Culture And its Icons Who Aren’t Tamil At All!

Most Tamil icons are ‘outsiders’ who have assimilated a Tamil ethos and so, have been accepted by the Tamil people.

Tamil icons (Photo: Modified by The Quint)

J Jayalalithaa defied electoral history and alliance arithmetic and has brought her party back to power, in the recent Assembly elections. The Puratchi Thalaivi (Revolutionary Leader) is a darling of the masses.

A supporter falls at the feet of Jayalithaa after her historic victory in recent assembly election. (Photo: Time Of India Screengrab)

But what is surprising is the fact that she commands such mass adulation from Tamilians despite her origins being traced to Karnataka. Her family was of Tamil origin, yes, but had made Mysore their home for generations. In fact, Jayalalithaa studied in Bishop Cotton Girls’ School in Bangalore. Her film career debut too was in a Kannada film called Sri Shaila Mahathme.

But she is not the only Tamil icon with a non-Tamil background.

There is a popular Tamil saying that explains the large-heartedness of the people of the state.

“Vandavarai vazhavaikum Tamil Nadu” ... meaning: “Tamil Nadu will help immigrants thrive.”

Tamil Icons of Non-Tamil Origins

We have a plethora of Tamil icons here who have no Tamil blood, in fact most were not even born in Tamil Nadu.

MG Ramachandran – the only chief minister to win three consecutive terms – was actually from a Malayali family and was born and brought up in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

Rajinikanth, the famous actor with an astounding Tamil fan following is actually Marathi. Before stardom hit, he was called Shivajirao Gaekwad, working as a bus conductor in Bangalore, before making it big in Tamil cinema.

Khushboo, also spelt as Kushboo in Tamil Nadu, was so popular an actress that several temples were built by her fans, worshipping her images as God. However, she was born as Nikhat Khan, a Punjabi Muslim and was brought up in Mumbai.