Remembering Sivaji Ganesan on his 97th Birth Anniversary

Tamil films and acting falls into two categories – Before Sivaji Ganesan and after Sivaji Ganesan.

Who is the original Style Mannan? Rajinikanth himself attributed his popularity to trying to imitate Sivaji Ganesan’s swag, style and walk and even his style of smoking. In an interview, Rajinikanth spoke about how Sivaji Ganesan’s portrayal of SP Choudhry in Thanga Padhakkam greatly influenced his role in Nettri Kann.

Sivaji Ganesan was well known for his punctuality and humility on set. He would not question directors on what they wanted and often asked junior artists for their opinion on his acting.

Sivaji Ganesan’s excellence on screen took Tamil films and the Tamil language well beyond the geographical boundaries of India. His love for his language and his country were obvious in his films.

His friendship with CN AnnAdurai, Kamaraj, MG Ramachandran, Jayalalitha, SS Rajendran, Nagesh, Manorama, Cho and even Kamalhaasan Showed his genial personality. He taught the entire film fraternity that humility takes one further than anything else.

A stage actor who successfully transitioned to the big screen and ruled the industry for almost five decades and acting under four generations of director, Sivaji Ganesan is an institution – the pride of Indian cinema.

His accolades are numerous but include the first Indian actor to win the Best Actor award at an International Film Festival, the First Indian actor to be awarded the Chevalier title by the Government of France amd the First Indian actor to play nine roles. These are just some of the accolades in a career that enjoyed many firsts, many highlights and many records.

On his death on 21 July 2001 he was given a state funeral.

Today marks the 97^th birth anniversary of this Legend in Indian cinema.

Below is the playlist published in Sigaram on 21 July 2025.