Sivaji Ganesan was one of the most successful actors of the Tamil film industry.
In his film career spanning nearly five decades, Sivaji Ganesan was seen in around 300 films in various languages including Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada.
Born on October 1, 1928 as V. Chinnaiah Manrayar Ganeshmurthy, Sivaji Ganesan was one of the most successful actors in the Tamil film industry during the latter half of the 20th century. Ganesan acted in several stage plays before making his Tamil debut with Parashakti, which was released in 1952. He started working on stage at the age of 10 when he joined a drama troupe in Sangiliandapuram.
In his film career spanning nearly five decades, Ganesan was seen in around 300 films in various languages including Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Ganesan was last seen in a supporting role in the film Pooperika Varugirom, released in 1999, before he passed away on July 21, 2001.
Today on his 93rd birth anniversary, we take a look at his journey and list down some lesser known facts about the ‘Marlon Brando of Indian cinema’:
- Ganesan earned the name ‘Shivaji’ after his portrayal of Chhatrapati Shivaji in the play Shivaji Kanda Hindu Rajyam. This name was given to him by social reformer EV Ramasamy.
- Ganesan was a trained dancer in several classical dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Manipuri.
- Ganesan was the first Indian artist to visit the United States in 1962 as India’s cultural ambassador. He went there at the invitation of the then US President John F. Kennedy.
- Ganesan was known for his eidetic memory – the ability to recall images, sounds or objects in memory. This helped him remember the scripts at a glance.
- He was the first Indian actor to receive the ‘Best Actor’ award at an international film festival. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1960 Afro-Asian Film Festival held in Cairo, Egypt, for his portrayal in the 1959 Tamil film Veerapandiya Kattabomman.
- Ganesan was active in politics from his early days. After being affiliated with several political organisations, Ganesan eventually formed his own political party Thamizga Munnetra Munnani in the year 1988. His party contested 50 seats in the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, however, it did not get much success. In 1989, Ganesan became the president of the Tamil Nadu wing of former VP Singh’s Janata Dal. Unlike his successful career in films, Ganesan had a forgettable stint in politics.
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