Prem Nazir, the evergreen star of Malayalam cinema, has many credits in Tamil as well. However, do you know that the actor was initially hesitant to work in Tamil cinema due to his lack of fluency in the language? In an old interview, Nazir said that he was invited to act in Tamil in 1957 for a film titled Thai Piranthal Vazhi Pirakkum. Around the time, he met the legendary MG Ramachandran, who encouraged him to star in Tamil cinema. "He said, 'Why don't you come to Tamil as well. Why limit yourself to Malayalam alone?'" In reply, Nazir expressed his reluctance to star in Tamil cinema as he was not proficient in the language. "I said that to him in the Tamil I knew, and he replied, saying, 'This much would suffice to act here.'"

Subsequently, Thai Piranthal Vazhi Pirakkum producer-writer-director AK Velan called Nazir over a lead role in the film, alongside SS Rajendran. Nazir said to Velan the same thing that he told MGR, but the filmmaker also encouraged him to take up the role. "I went to Chennai a few days later, signed that contract and Thai Piranthal Vazhi Pirakkum became a big hit."

Nazir added that he came to Chennai for one film but ended up signing 55 Tamil films that year.