Prime Minister Modi on Sunday (February 8, 2026) said that his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim is a
“big fan” of MGR, merely like “several of us in India.
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 emerge as Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister. He breathed his last in 1987.
‘Naalai Namadhe’ is one of the actor’s several blockbusters, released in 1975.
Taking to his X post he wrote that “at the lunch hosted by his friend,
PM Anwar Ibrahim, one of the songs sung was Naalai Namathe, from a movie starring the great MGR! Adding 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.
India trusted partner for growth, says PM Modi in Malaysia citing trade deals with various countries
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.
News Edit KV Raman
