Trivia

On April 25, 1947, along with actor M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, was acquitted of the murder of journalist Lakshmikantham.

He is considered as the "Charlie Chaplin of India.".

N.S. Krishan popularly known as Kalaivanar (Lover of arts) and also as NSK, was an Indian actor, comedian, playback singer and screenwriter in the early stages of the Tamil film industry - in the 1940s and 1950s.

N. S. Krishnan was accused in the Lakshmikanthan murder case along with the then-famous lead actor Thyagaraja Bhagavathar. This had a major impact on his artistic career. He was acquitted a few months before India gained independence. After spending approximately 30 months in prison, he was released and began acting in films again. However, a significant portion of his wealth had been depleted due to the legal proceedings.

N.S. Krishnan had been undergoing treatment for alcohol-induced hepatitis since 12 August 1957. He died at the General Hospital, Madras on 30 August 1957 following complications of the disease.

N S Krishnan started his career as a Villupaatu artist (the Tamil way of reciting stories while singing songs and playing a musical instrument in the form of a bow - called 'Villu') and later became involved in Tamil drama and stage shows.

He acted in nearly 150 Tamil films and the matinee-duo of N.S Krishnan and T.A Maduram (later his better half) in Tamil films was very popular in his days.

He was arguably one of the earliest comedians in Tamil cinema to strike a chord with the masses, who hung on to every word that he uttered on the screen. In those early days of cinema, body language was minimal and comedians had to raise laughs with their witty one liners. Krishnan usually wrote his comedy tracks himself and always ensured that he was never repetitive or jaded.

Though he was more popular among the Tamil populace as a film comedian (and even in the modern day he is remembered for that), Kalaivanar was instrumental in bringing a number of leading Tamil stage and film personalities of his days to the fore.

The leading Tamil Nadu politician and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu 'Kalaignar' Karunanidhi, when asked once by a journalist (of the Tamil magazine Kumudham) about who the non-political hero in his life was, answered it was Kalaivanar.