Screengrab of artists performing a song in “Naalai Namadhe,” a film starring MGR. Photo: X/@narendramodi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (February 8, 2026) said that his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim is a “big fan” of MGR, just like “several of us in India,” as a song from the Tamil actor’s movie ‘Naalai Namathe’ was presented during a lunch hosted for the Indian leader.
Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, was a popular Indian actor, director and producer who founded Tamil Nadu’s All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) party and went on to become Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister. He died in 1987.
‘Naalai Namadhe’ is one of the actor’s several blockbusters, released in 1975.
“At the lunch hosted by my friend, PM Anwar Ibrahim, one of the songs sung was Naalai Namathe, from a movie starring the great MGR!,” PM Modi posted on X.
Mr. Modi added that “PM Anwar Ibrahim, like several of us in India, is a big fan of MGR!” Malaysia has the second-largest Indian-origin community, mostly Tamils, in the world.
Earlier, PM Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Malaysia, while addressing a community programme in Kuala Lumpur, said that “members of the Tamil diaspora in Malaysia are serving society in various fields and noted that the Tamil diaspora has been present in Malaysia for many centuries.”
He said that, inspired by this history, India had established the Thiruvalluvar Chair at the University of Malaya and would now set up a Thiruvalluvar centre to further strengthen shared heritage.
Published – February 08, 2026 01:17 pm IST
