Kuala Lumpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday remarked that Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is a “big fan” of legendary Tamil actor M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), much like “many of us in India,” after a song from MGR’s film Naalai Namathe was played during a luncheon hosted in honour of the Indian leader.

Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran, fondly known as MGR, was a towering figure in Tamil cinema and politics. A celebrated actor, director and producer, he founded the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and later served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu until his death in 1987.

'Naalai Namadhe' is one of the actor's several blockbusters, released in 1975.

"At the lunch hosted by my friend, PM Anwar Ibrahim, one of the songs sung was Naalai Namathe, from a movie starring the great MGR!," PM Modi posted on X.

Modi added that "PM Anwar Ibrahim, like several of us in India, is a big fan of MGR!"

Malaysia has the second-largest Indian-origin community, mostly Tamils, in the world.

Earlier, PM Modi, who is on a two-day visit to Malaysia, while addressing a community programme in Kuala Lumpur, said that "members of the Tamil diaspora in Malaysia are serving society in various fields and noted that the Tamil diaspora has been present in Malaysia for many centuries."

He said that, inspired by this history, India had established the Thiruvalluvar Chair at the University of Malaya and would now set up a Thiruvalluvar centre to further strengthen shared heritage. PTI