Though the recently released ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’ is touted as one of the best boxing movies that Indian cinema has produced and brings out the boxing history of North Chennai, the family of M Kitheri Muthu, one of the foremost and finest boxers of Sarpatta Parambarai, who peaked even before Independence, feels that boxing history was distorted in the movie.
Chennai: One of their key contentions is the character ‘Rangan Vadhiyar’, who allegedly defeated foreign boxer Teri has been an attempt to distort history as their grandfather Kitheri Muthu was the one who defeated Teri in 1942. “Earlier, there was Tamil boxing only, practised in North Chennai, in which the players have to hit each other only in the face. But in the 1940s, English boxing came into practice where boxers were permitted to hit in the body, above groins. Our grandfather who practised Tamil boxing shifted to English boxing and defeated Teri,” Johnson, the eldest grandson of Kitheri Muthu, told DT Next.
“The title ‘Dravida Veeran’ was given only to our grandfather and that is history. But in the movie, the name of our grandfather was never used once and a poster is shown where the title is given to another. Our grandfather was the key in Sarpatta Parambarai who produced many gems for the Parambarai in future such as TT Masi, Thiayagaran and Vijayan. But proper recognition was not given to him,” rues Stephen, another grandson of Kitheri Muthu, who is still into boxing and runs a boxing academy in the name of Kitheri Muthu.
After defeating Teri, Kitheri Muthu’s style of boxing was widely popular among the boxers of north Chennai and even former Chief Minister MGR in his movie ‘Needhiku Thalaivanangu’ has spoken about Kitheri Muthu where he once said that he will land Kitheri Muthu’s punch on the enemy’s face. Even once Kitheri Muthu was asked to fight with MGR for a movie scene but the boxer refused, stating he will not lose in the fight with MGR even if it is for a movie.
Another contention for the family is how MGR was portrayed in the movie. “MGR was shown as a person who did not promote boxing. That is wrong. MGR loved boxing and boxers and brought international boxers like Muhammad Ali to Tamil Nadu to fight with local boxers. In fact, MGR was a fan of Sarpatta Parambarai and in his movie ‘Kaval Karan’ MGR said he too belongs to ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’. Boxing in North Chennai was above religion, caste and politics,” says Johnson, who was close to Kitheri Muthu.
Teri was a Black British who continuously defeated reputed boxers in entire south India. In 1942, Teri defeated Arunachalam, the most senior boxer of Sarpatta Parambarai then. Following this, elders and sponsors of Sarpatta Parambarai chose Kitheri Muthu to fight Teri.
Poster of Kitheri Muthu with info on
‘Dravida Veeran’ title given to him by Periyar; (r) students of
Kitheri Muthu Boxing Academy seen practisingSince Muthu was an expert only in Tamil boxing, he was given intense training in English boxing for three months and made to fight Teri in which Muthu won. The victory was widely celebrated as one of the finest in Sarpatta Parambarai and Kitheri Muthu was awarded the title ‘Dravida Veeran’ at a function in Royapuram, graced by Dravidian legends such as Periyar, poet Kannadasan, former Chief Minister Annadurai and fishermen leader Jeevarathinam.
“The title ‘Dravida Veeran’ was given only to our grandfather and that is history. But in the movie, the name of our grandfather was never used once and a poster is shown where the title is given to another. Our grandfather was the key in Sarpatta Parambarai who produced many gems for the Parambarai in future such as TT Masi, Thiayagaran and Vijayan. But proper recognition was not given to him,” rues Stephen, another grandson of Kitheri Muthu, who is still into boxing and runs a boxing academy in the name of Kitheri Muthu.
After defeating Teri, Kitheri Muthu’s style of boxing was widely popular among the boxers of north Chennai and even former Chief Minister MGR in his movie ‘Needhiku Thalaivanangu’ has spoken about Kitheri Muthu where he once said that he will land Kitheri Muthu’s punch on the enemy’s face. Even once Kitheri Muthu was asked to fight with MGR for a movie scene but the boxer refused, stating he will not lose in the fight with MGR even if it is for a movie.
Another contention for the family is how MGR was portrayed in the movie. “MGR was shown as a person who did not promote boxing. That is wrong. MGR loved boxing and boxers and brought international boxers like Muhammad Ali to Tamil Nadu to fight with local boxers. In fact, MGR was a fan of Sarpatta Parambarai and in his movie ‘Kaval Karan’ MGR said he too belongs to ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’. Boxing in North Chennai was above religion, caste and politics,” says Johnson, who was close to Kitheri Muthu.
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