T.R. Mahalingam — a journey from singing at temples to the tinsel world

Thenkarai Ramakrishna Mahalingam was born in 1924 near Cholavandan in Madurai. He started singing at a young age. Meiyappa Chettiar cast him as Lord Krishna in Nandakumar in 1938. The film failed, but Sri Valli, which ran for 55 weeks, gave him a break