Tamil orator Solomon Pappaiah dies at 90; Rajinikanth and Shankar pay tribute

Solomon Pappaiah, the Tamil scholar and orator who became a familiar face in households across the state through his television pattimandram debates, died on September 11. He was 90.

Pappaiah was widely respected in Tamil literary circles for his command of classical and modern Tamil texts, and it was this reputation as a speaker that carried his name beyond academic audiences. His debate programmes, broadcast around festival seasons, are credited with bringing the pattimandram format to a mass viewership.

He also had a brief but memorable association with Tamil cinema, appearing in two films directed by Shankar. He played a magistrate in the 2003 coming-of-age film Boys, and later took on the role of Thondaiman in Rajinikanth's Sivaji: The Boss, a part that made him instantly recognisable to film audiences. Raja, a fellow television debate speaker and a close associate of Pappaiah, also appeared prominently in the film. Reports that he had a small role in Shankar's Mudhalvan, starring Arjun, remain unconfirmed; the portion is said to have been dropped during editing on account of the film's length.

In a 2022 interview, Pappaiah said he had long harboured a wish to act and had taken up some projects, adding that he was treated with great respect within the film industry. More than 200 film offers followed his Sivaji appearance, he said, but he did not see himself in cinema, placing himself instead in literary and academic circles.

Tributes came from the film figures he had worked with. Rajinikanth, who shared the screen with him in a well-known scene in Sivaji: The Boss and was among his admirers, said he prayed for the soul of the "great Tamil personality" to rest in peace, noting that Pappaiah had taken the literary tradition of the pattimandram from the educated elite to the common people and made it widely popular. Shankar said he was deeply saddened by the news, describing Pappaiah as a great Tamil scholar and orator, and recalled looking forward to his pattimandram programmes during every Tamil festival.