K. Sarangapani

K. Sarangapani
K. Sarangapani in 1951 film Mohana Sundaram
Born	1904 Kumbakonam, British India
Died	Madras, India
Occupation	Stage actor, film actor
Years active	1935 - 1968
Spouse(s)	Thaiyalnayaki

K. Sarangapani was an Indian film actor who worked mainly in Tamil cinema. He was basically a comedian, but occasionally played heroic roles.

Sarangapani was born in 1904 in Kumbakonam, Tanjore District. His parents were Soundararajan and Jagadambal. He was the last son of the family. Sarangapani has three elder brothers and one elder sister. Sister was the eldest in the family, he name was Ambammal. Periya Rajanna (Artist) was Sarangapani’s eldest brother. Next brother as Chinna Rajanna (Nadaswara Vidwaan) and his last brother was named Thambusamy (Miruthangam Vidwaan).

Sarangapani was married to Thayalnayaki. He had three sons and a daughter. As a follower of the freedom movement, he named his children as Gandhi Padamanbhan, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Bhaskara Patel, Subash Chandra Bose.

Belonging to a family involved music performance, his love towards arts was in his genes. At the age of Seven, Sarangapani had wandered behind a drama advertising bullock cart and joined Jaganatha Iyer Company. It was here he learned to sing, dance and act. During his early days, he mostly performed "Shtreepart" – Woman role. Later, he started acting in Comedy and lead roles in various dramas.

He has moved from Jaganatha Iyer Company and Joined Nawab Rajamanikam Pillai Company. This company traveled length and breadth of the state and also to Sri Lanka to perform various dramas

Sarangapani got his break into movies while performing for Devi Bala Vinodha Sangeetha Sabha in Coimbatore. Though, he became busy in movies he never stopped performing in Dramas.

Though, Saranagpani has acted as comedian in most of the films, he was the main star in "Rambaiyin Kaathal" . He was also one of the title star in AVM production "Sabapathi".

Sarangapani was conferred with Tamil Nadu State Award – Kalaimamani in the year of 1964. He was also given "Raja Sando" Award as a lifetime contribution to the Films in the year of 1982 by His Excellency Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy.

Though a staunch congressman, Sarangapani had friends in all parties.

When Aringar Anna was diagnosed with cancer and was admitted in Adyar, Sarangapani was a daily visitor. He visited a temple to perform pooja in the name of Anna and would bring kumkum as prasatham and apply it to his forehead. Anna, an atheist, would not remove the kumkum from his forehead, as a mark of respect to his friendship.