A biopic on legendary singer M.S. Subbulakshmi is set to be made, with Rashmika Mandanna playing the iconic singer. The film was officially launched at The Music Academy in Chennai on 16 September 2026, marking her 110th birth anniversary.
Gowtam Tinnanuri will direct the film. He has previously directed films such as Jersey and Kingdom. Sai Pallavi’s name had earlier been linked to the project. With this film, Rashmika will portray a historical and cultural figure for the first time, taking on the role of a personality closely associated with Carnatic classical music.
Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were also admirers
M.S. Subbulakshmi was a renowned Carnatic singer whose rendition of the hymn Vishnu Sahasranamam has been played 10 crore times on YouTube. Bhajan Govindam, meanwhile, has received 17 million views, while Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatam has been viewed 47 million times. She received all the major honours, from the Padma Shri to the Bharat Ratna.
Her voice had such a wide appeal that Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru were among her admirers. At Gandhi’s special request, she would sing “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram” for him. Blue saris became closely associated with her, so the shade was named “MS Blue” after her.
How M.S. Subbulakshmi became one of the country’s greatest singers
M.S. Subbulakshmi, popularly known as Kunjamma, was born on 16 September 1916 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Her mother, Shanmukavadivammal, belonged to the Devadasi community and played the veena, while her father, Subramaniam Iyer, was a singer. Her mother arranged for her to train under renowned musician Pandit Narayan Rao Vyas. She made her first recording when she was just 10 years old.
Subbulakshmi would sing bhajans while accompanying her mother during her stage performances. At just 13, she made her debut at the Madras Music Academy in 1929.
In an interview with The Wire, Subbulakshmi recalled that she was once sitting outside her house and making a mud house when someone picked her up and took her straight to her mother, who was performing on stage. Her mother was singing before an audience of around 50 to 100 people and asked Subbulakshmi to sing a few songs too.
She wiped the mud from her hands and began singing. The audience at the music academy broke into applause. After this, she started getting regular opportunities to perform.
After one of Subbulakshmi’s performances in 1936, T. Sadasivam, a well-known journalist of the time, wrote a front-page article about her in the Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan.
Her concerts began attracting large crowds after this. The two later grew close after meeting for work and eventually married despite opposition from their families.
M.S. Subbulakshmi with her husband, Sadasivam.
Sadasivam knew that Subbulakshmi’s talent was not meant to be confined to the stage. Through a recommendation to filmmaker K. Subrahmanyam, Sadasivam secured Subbulakshmi the lead role in the film Sevasadan. The 1938 film was a huge hit, and Subbulakshmi emerged as a major name in South India.
To bring Subbulakshmi’s songs to the general public, her husband, Sadasivam, decided to produce films by investing his own money. At Subbulakshmi’s suggestion, Sadasivam made his first film, Meera (1945), on Meera Bai.
Meera was directed by American filmmaker Ellis R. Dungan.
Subbulakshmi was given the lead role of Meera Bai in the film. To play Meera, Subbulakshmi personally visited and stayed in all the places where Meera had spent time in devotion to Krishna. The film’s shooting began at Newton Studio in Madras in 1944, after which the team selected Jaipur, Vrindavan, Chittorgarh and Dwarka.
Impressed by the film’s concept, the Maharaja of Udaipur helped in every possible way, including allowing the filmmakers to use his palace and its elephants and horses for the production.
With the help of the Maharaja’s minister, they were provided with royal elephants and horses, as well as permission to shoot anywhere in the palace at any time. The palace’s royal dancers were also made available for the shoot. Many of the extras seen in the film were also members of the royal household.
The 136-minute film featured 20 songs by Subbulakshmi
The film Meera was released on Diwali, 3 November 1945. The 136-minute film featured 20 songs, all of which were sung by Subbulakshmi. It was such a major box-office hit that some scenes were reshot and the film was released again in Hindi two years later, in 1947, under the title Meerabai.
A picture of M.S. Subbulakshmi with Indira Gandhi.
Mountbatten, Rajendra Prasad, Indira Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru attended the premiere
Meera Bai was released on 21 November 1947, turning Subbulakshmi from a Tamil star into a national star. In the film, Sarojini Naidu introduced Subbulakshmi and gave her the title “Nightingale of India”. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru also attended the film’s premiere. Other prominent national figures, including Lord Mountbatten, Rajendra Prasad, Vijayalakshmi Pandit and Indira Gandhi, were also present. After watching the film, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mountbatten became fans of Subbulakshmi.
Jawaharlal Nehru with M.S. Subbulakshmi.
Meera became a musical cult classic in Tamil cinema
The film Meera went on to become a musical cult classic in Tamil cinema. It is still counted among India’s 100 greatest films. After the film’s success, Subbulakshmi received offers for several films, but she chose to permanently end her association with cinema.
Jawaharlal Nehru said, “I am just an ordinary prime minister before you”
According to The Print, Subbulakshmi got the opportunity to perform before Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at a Karnataka festival in Delhi in 1953. Nehru was deeply impressed by her singing and went up to her to praise her. He told her that her voice had the power to touch people’s hearts and said, “What am I before you? Just an ordinary prime minister.”
Mahatma Gandhi was also a fan of her voice
Mahatma Gandhi and Subbulakshmi became acquainted during their involvement in the freedom struggle. Gandhi admired her voice and would often ask her to sit before him and sing “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram”. On 2 October 1947, Gandhi organised an event for Subbulakshmi in Delhi. He especially wanted to hear the bhajan “Hari Tum Haro” in her voice. As Subbulakshmi felt she was unable to sing it properly, she suggested that another singer perform it, but the suggestion was rejected.
For some reason, Subbulakshmi could not attend the event. To apologise, she worked until midnight on 1 October to record “Hari Tum Haro” and sent the recording to Mahatma Gandhi on the morning flight.
Mahatma Gandhi’s letter written for M.S. Subbulakshmi in 1944.
She stopped singing the bhajan for several months after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination
When M.S. Subbulakshmi learned about Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination on 30 January 1948, she fainted. The shock affected her deeply, and she did not sing the bhajan “Hari Tum Haro” for several months.
A colour was named after M.S. Subbulakshmi
Subbulakshmi had a deep love for Kanjeevaram saris. A weaver named Muthu Chettiar created a Middle Sea Blue sari for her. She liked the shade so much that she began wearing saris in the same colour during concerts. As she became closely associated with the shade, it was named MS Blue during her centenary celebrations.
Subbulakshmi was the first Indian singer to perform abroad
After gaining recognition in India, M.S. Subbulakshmi created history in 1966 when she performed in New York at the United Nations General Assembly. She was the first Indian singer to perform there. She later performed in several other countries, including London and Canada.
She stopped singing after her husband’s death
After her husband, Kalki Sadasivam, died in 1997, M.S. Subbulakshmi stopped singing and began living in Kotturpuram, Chennai. Seven years later, on 11 December 2004, M.S. Subbulakshmi also passed away.
