When MGR scolded a Tamil actor for offering liquor to Saroja Devi

Veteran South Indian actor B. Saroja Devi, who breathed her last at the age of 87 on Monday (July 14, 2025), was once offered liquor by a co-artiste on the sets of a Tamil film, which had angered M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), the popular yesteryear actor-turned-Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu (1977-87).

Saroja Devi was MGR’s leading lady in 25 films, of which 23 were box office hits, long before a younger Jayalalithaa — who would also go on to become Tamil Nadu Chief Minister — entered the scene and eventually replaced her as MGR’s on-screen heroine. In Arasa Kattalai, one of MGR’s notable films, both Saroja Devi and Jayalalithaa shared screen space.

Recalling a moment during a film shoot in Ooty (Udhagamandalam), Saroja Devi once narrated how a co-actor offered her a drink to help cope with the chilly weather. MGR, known for his disciplined lifestyle and strong values, overheard the exchange and was infuriated.

Actors Saroja Devi and M.G. Ramachandran in the Tamil movie ‘Parakkum Paavai’
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Archives

“He (MGR) was a teetotaller and would never participate in gambling, dancing, or watch scenes he considered obscene,” Saroja Devi told Frontline magazine, a sister publication of The Hindu, in an interview after MGR’s death in December 1987. “We were shooting in Ooty. It was extremely cold and another woman artiste offered me a drink, saying it would keep me warm. MGR overheard the conversation, took that actress aside and apparently gave her a dressing down. She came back sweating in that chill weather,” she recalled.

Although MGR and Saroja Devi parted ways in 1967 due to a misunderstanding and never acted together again, their personal respect endured. Saroja Devi, who later settled in Bengaluru, recalled that MGR visited her after her husband passed away and also attended her adopted daughter’s wedding. Every year on January 7 — a date he considered lucky — MGR would call to wish her a happy birthday

She credited MGR for giving her a major break in cinema and for instilling in her the discipline that helped her sustain a long and successful career.