GEMINI GANESAN captivated audiences with his screen presence and acting prowess in a frontline film career that lasted more than 50 years.
The Tamil cinema legend, known as the king of romance, combined an impressive body of acting work with a colourful personal life that included a rise from humble beginnings, high-profile liaisons and fathering an illegitimate child who became a Bollywood icon. Born on November 17, 1920, he passed away on March 22, 2005, aged 84 and received a state funeral.
Eastern Eye decided to mark the birth anniversary of the legendary Indian actor this week with an alphabetical guide to his life, from a troubled childhood to superstardom.
A is for Awards: Major honours not being around when he was at the height of his career meant the superstar actor won a limited number of awards. His most notable accolades included the Tamil State Film Award for best actor (Kaaviya Thalaivi), a Filmfare Award for best Tamil actor (Naan Avanillai) and Indian state honour, the Padma Shri. He also received multiple lifetime achievement awards.
B is for Beginning: The actor was born as Ramasamy Ganesan on November 17, 1920, in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He had a tough childhood after his father passed away, although he harboured dreams of a medical career.
C is for Chemistry: He married Alamelu in 1940, hoping that her father would help him become a doctor. But his father-in-law died within a month of their marriage and this forced him to find a job to support his family. Ganesan worked as a lecturer in the chemistry department of Madras Christian College.
Ganesan with his wife SavitriD is for Debut: He got a job working at Gemini Studios in 1947 and worked in the casting department. The aspiring actor made his debut playing a minor role in comedy satire Miss Malini (1947). He played further supporting roles and finally got noticed with a negative character in Thai Ullam (1953).
E is for Epic: Film director MA Thirumugam brought together superstar actors MG Ramachandran and Gemini Ganesan together for the only time with his movie Muharasi (1966), which was considered a landmark moment.
F is for First: His film Thennilavu (1961) was the first south Indian film to be shot in Jammu and Kashmir. It also popularised outdoor locations at a time when most movies were filmed in studios.
G is for Gemini: Legendary filmmaker SS Vasan launched Gemini Studios in 1940. The production house hired Ganesan, who incorporated the established film brand into his screen name.
H is for Hindi cinema: The Tamil superstar did a few Bollywood films. The most successful of these was hit comedy Miss Mary (1957), where he starred opposite legendary actress Meena Kumari. His extended cameo in Nazrana (1961) opposite Raj Kapoor and Vyjayanthimala was also appreciated.
I is for International: His movie Konjum Salangai (1962) was released globally and is thought to have been dubbed in 22 languages. It was the first Tamil film to be released in Poland (in a dubbed version).
J is for Jesus: The Tamil icon starred in Malayalam movies including Aana Valarthiya Vanampadiyude Makan (1971), Professor (1972), Sree Guruvayoorappan (1972) and Jesus (1973), which was based on the biblical story and saw him play John The Baptist.
K is for Kalathur Kannamma: He starred opposite his wife Savitri in smash hit romantic drama Kalathur Kannamma (1960). It was the debut movie of future superstar Kamal Haasan, who delivered a winning performance as a child actor.
L is for Longevity: The prolific actor connected with different generations during a career that lasted more than 50 years. Having started in 1947, one of his last major roles was in 1998 film Naam Iruvar Namakku Iruvar.
M is for Manam Pola Mangalyam: After playing supporting roles, Ganesan was cast as a hero for the first time in successful comedy film Manam Pola Mangalyam (1953). It launched him as a leading man and also became a turning point for actress Savitri, whom he would later marry. There are no surviving prints of the movie.
N is for No: Unlike most popular south Indian stars, Ganesan stayed away from politics. This included multiple approaches from major political parties to represent them in elections. He also turned down loads of Bollywood offers.
Kalathur KannammaO is for Older: The actor started playing character roles later in his career, including a notable performance in Avvai Shanmugi (1996), which was a hit remake of Hollywood comedy Mrs Doubtfire (1993). He also acted in long-running TV serial Krishnadasi as an older man.
P is for Passing: After a prolonged illness, resulting in multiple organ failures, Ganesan died on March 22, 2005, at the age of 84. He was cremated with full state honours.
Q is for Queens: Whether it was Saroja Devi, Pushpavalli, Padmini, Vyjayanthimala, Anjali Devi, B Saroja Devi or Devika Devadoss, he worked opposite the biggest leading ladies in Tamil cinema. He did the most films with his wife Savitri (see W) and they were also the most successful.
R is for Romantic: He was so admired for his onscreen passion and presence in love stories that Ganesan was bestowed with the title Kadhal Mannan, which means king of romance.
S is for Seetha: Seetha (1967) was his 100th film. He starred opposite his wife Savitri in the AP Nagarajan-directed drama, but it was met with mixed reviews, despite being hotly anticipated.
T is for Trinity: The actor was part of a trinity of leading men who ruled Tamil cinema, with MG Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan. Ramachandran was popular as an action hero, Sivaji excelled in dramatic films and Gemini was most known for romantic roles.
U is for Unacknowledged: He had a famous extramarital relationship with well-known actress Pushpavalli and had two daughters with her, including future Bollywood legend Rekha. The relationship ended because he refused to acknowledge Pushpavalli or his children. Rekha revealed her painful past after finding fame, and the rift with her estranged father never fully healed.
V is for Vanji Kottai Valipan: Legendary filmmaker SS Vasan made a return to Tamil cinema after a long gap with hit film Vanji Kottai Valipan (1958). Ganesan headlined the blockbuster opposite popular leading ladies Vyjayanthimala and Padmini. It was remade in Bollywood as Raj Tilak with the same lead cast later that year.
Manam Pola MangalyamW is for Wife: The actor tied the knot with legendary leading lady Savitri in 1952, while he was still married to his first wife, whom he never officially divorced. Savitri was a profound influence on him becoming a big star and they had two children together. The formidable power couple starred in a huge number of hit films together and remained married until she passed away in 1981, aged 47.
X is for X-factor: Ganesan didn’t have a theatre background like many of his contemporaries, but did have a natural flair for performance, a suave romantic presence and a unique onscreen image.
Y is for YouTube: Many videos of Ganesan are on YouTube, including his films and a feature length documentary on him titled Kadhal Mannan. The film Mahanati (2018), a biopic of actress Savitri which sees Dulquer Salmaan portray Ganesan, is also available on the video sharing site.
Z is for Zest: Whether it was his prolific career filled with many movies across different decades, colourful love life or many varied interests such as multiple sports, poetry, Carnatic music and literature, Ganesan had a zest for life. This enabled him to leave a lasting legacy.
The actor’s evolving style from youth to maturity getty images
Aamir Khan embracing vintage looks with classic charmgetty images
Bold and dramatic changes defining Aamir Khan’s careergetty images
From rugged to refined Aamir Khan’s versatile appearancesgetty images
Memorable film moments showcasing Aamir Khan’s unique stylegetty images
Aamir Khan’s blend of classic and contemporary fashiongetty images
Aamir Khan’s dedication to authentic character portrayals getty images
Cinematic milestones reflected in Aamir Khan’s on-screen imagegetty images
A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5