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Birth Of A Star His Early Years And Work When Villupuram Chiniah Pillai Ganesan was born on October 1, 1927, his parents humble, poor and full of pride at the birth of a son, must have felt good that they had named the child after the deity worshipped for success in all endeavors. His father Mr. Chiniah Pillai worked for the railways and being intensely involved in the Indian Freedom Movement was in and out of jail, like countless followers of Mahatma Gandhi, at that time. Little Ganesan was therefore almost entirely brought up by his mother Mrs. Rajamani Ammal, who struggled to give her handsome son a good upbringing and education.The fact, however,was that little Ganesan, as he grew up, knew that he would have to do something on his own, and fate had its own great plans for him. He dropped out of school where he had picked up interest in acting on the school stage and ran away to join a boys company to do what he most wanted to - act. All the
world knows how the enterprising youth rose in the boys company. Even at
that early stage, his wonderful asset was the range of his voice. He was
thin and lanky but his voice had a mesmerizing strength and power. For
the characters he played, both male and female, the delightful range of
his voice was an asset.His first appearance was as Sita in the play
"Ramayana". Through sheer histrionic talents,
step by step, he established a great reputation as an actor from a very
young age.His outstanding performance as the character "Chatrapati
Sivaji", the great Maratha warrior, in the stage play "Sivaji
Kanda Hindu Samrajyam", earned him the title of "SIVAJI"
and this was conferred on him by Mr. "Periyar" E.V.Ramasamy
Naickar, the great social reformer of modern times. It was indeed a
memorable moment in the history of his life. The Sivaji Ganesan story
had just begun. A story that began with great promise and expectations,
which not only fulfilled all the expectations, but grew beyond that to
become a legend. In 1952 at the age of 22, because of his great name on stage, Mr. P.A. Perumal Mudaliar of M/S National Pictures gave him the title role in "Parasakthi". This movie became one of the great box office hits. In the next
42 years he acted in 300 movies.Sivaji has starred as the `main actor'
in 285 successful movies (probably no other artiste in the
world has achieved so phenomenal a feat) and has played guest roles in
films of various other Indian languages including Hindi, Telugu,
Kanarese and Malayalam. More than a dozen pictures have
received recognition from the From "Parasakthi" (1952) to "Thevar Magan"(1992) Sivaji Ganesan has remained an idol for the masses who throng the cinema houses in Tamil Nadu. Outstanding for his modulation of dialogue delivery, along with facial expression, movement before the camera, action and reaction he is, and will be a vocabulary for acting, today, tomorrow and forever. Many Facets Of An Actor Sivaji Ganesan is known, not merely as a phenomenal actor, but also as a fine example of a human being who exercised his maximum potential not merely for personal glory or fame, but toward the upliftment of humanity.He has always been a pillar of support to society, especially in times of National crises, utilising his every talent and skill in reaching out to those in need. He made, as
his own responsibility, the welfare of the poverty stricken masses, and
he seldom spared an opportunity to feed the hungry or provide shelter
and basic necessities to the poor.He will be remembered as the first, to
donate a Lakh of When Madras City was
affected by floods in the year 1962, he supplied food packets and cash to
a few thousands of hut dwellers.Taking the initiative, Sivaji
organized a drama troupe and the famous Drama, "Veera
Pandiya Kattabomman" was enacted free of cost at various
places like - Every year, for more than ten years, since 1962, a series of Dramas were performed at Bombay in aid of Bharathi Kala Mandram Building and Library. The funds generated for them, an average of a lakh of rupees every year.These dramas were presided over by esteemed personalities such as the Governors of Maharashtra like Shri Prakasha and Smt.Vijayalakshmi Pandit, Chief Minister Shri Chavan, Late Shri Kannamwar and other Ministers of Maharashtra as well as Central Ministers including Late Dr.P. Subbarayan and Shri Humayun Kabir. Sivaji is well known in South India for his generous contributions towards Flood Relief, The National Defence Fund, construction of schools and hospitals, provision of water facilities in rural areas, and various other deserving causes including aid to numerous students in schools, colleges and technical institutions . Sivaji is respected by one and all, for the wonderful person that he is. He played host to the visiting (Late) President Nasser of Egypt, being the only person, granted permission by Shri Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, to do so.The spectacularly arranged function was attended by dignitaries from various walks of life. In the year 1969-70, during the trouble with Pakistan, Sivaji led a group of artistes to the ' front' to entertain the Jawans. The group of over 70 artistes organised shows "Sridhar Sivaji Star Night" at various district head quarters and an amount exceeding Rs.17 Lakhs, apart from his own personal contributions, was raised towards the Defence Fund. He and his troupe staged a Drama at Madras for the Welfare of Indian Airforce Men which raised about a lakh of rupees. Out of many contributions to Charity and Public Welfare, only a few are mentioned here. Through drought and flood, poverty and war Sivaji has always been present, like a beacon of light, revealing ways and means of alleviating suffering and poverty and despair.That is the reason why he was so honoured by a large number of public bodies and organisations and revered by a vast majority of film fans. Sri Sivaji Ganesan was the first artist from India to visit the United States of America, in the Cultural Exchange Programme of the US Government, in 1962 establishing himself as a distinguished Indian Cultural Ambassador. During his visit there, he was honoured by being made the 'Honorary Mayor" of Niagara Falls City for one day and was presented the Golden Key to the city.The only other Indian who has had this honour before Sivaji was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. On the 12'th of March 1976 he went over to Mauritius on an invitation from the Prime Minister Shri Ramagoolam to partake in their Independence Day Celebration, and stayed as their Government guest for four days. He was the President of the South Indian Artistes
Association, During the 1966 Republic Awards our esteemed President of Indian Union was pleased to confirm the Title of "Padmashree" on Sri Sivaji Ganesan. On the 10th March 1983 Sri Sivaji V.C.Ganesan was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by His Excellency the President of India, and was an M.P. until 2nd April 1986. Sivaji Ganesan has been bestowed with many awards and honorary titles for his exemplary work on and off the stage. AWARDS During the 1966 Republic Awards our esteemed President of Indian Union was pleased to confirm the Title of "Padmashree" on Sri Sivaji Ganesan. In the New year awards of 1984, Sri Sivaji Ganesan was honored by the conferment of "Padmabhushan" by the President of India on recognition of his multifarious charitable as well as National activities and his very outstanding contribution to the stage and screen of South India. He was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Annamalai University, Chidambaram, in December 1986. In 1992, he was honored with the National Award - the Special Jury Award for his performance in his 280th movie "Devar Magan". On April 14, 1993, the Adithanar Muthamizh Peravai, pointing out his period to be the Golden Age of Tamil Cinema, honored him with the Adithanar Gold Medal Award, for bringing honor and prestige to the Tamils in general. On April 24, 1993, the Dinanath Mangeshkar Pratishthan of Poona, named after the popular Musical Drama personality of yesteryears, Dinanath Masterji, the father of our Nightingale of Indian Screen Ms.Lata Mangeshkar, honored Mr.Sivaji Ganesan with Dinanath Mangeshkar Purashkar, for his outstanding contribution towards the art and cultural tradition of India. On August 27, 1993, the Santhome Special Award was given by Santhome Communications Center, the cultural wing of the Tamil Nadu Bishop's Council, to honor him for the great service he has rendered to the Tamil Culture in his own inimitable way, by way of kindling the hearts and minds of the masses with a true sense of history, patriotism, devotion to God and high moral integrity, to enhance and strengthen the foundation of Tamil Culture. He has been awarded "For The Sake Of Honour" award by Rotary Clubs in Madras, Coimbatore & Trichy cities. Sivaji was honored by being invited as the Chief Guest to inaugurate the 26th International Film Festival of India, which was held at Bombay, in January 1995, the Centenary Year of Cinema. He has been awarded the title of Chevalier, the Order of Arts and Literature by the Ministry of Culture, Government of France. This is one of the main decorations of the French Republic which is conferred to honour the most original and talented personalities, for their remarkable contributions in the field of Arts and Literature in France and all over the world.On 22nd April 1995, at a glittering ceremony held at the MCA stadium, Madras, Dr.Sivaji Ganesan was presented the Chevalier Title and Medallion by the French Ambassador to India Mr.Philip Petit. Ms.Jayalalitha, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest of the function.The entire Tamil film industry and representatives of all other Regional and National film industries were present at this function At the function Dr.Sivaji Ganesan presented a cheque for Rs.1,00,000/- to the Tamilnadu Chief Minister's Relief Fund, and another Rupees One Hundred Thousands to the Film Employees Federation of South India.The balance of money after all expenses(which was collected from the film industry was used to form the Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Educational Trust. The money accruing from these Trust funds are being given towards education of children of poor film artistes. During his visit to the USA in June 1995, he visited Columbus city, the capital of the Ohio State. Participating in the dinner hosted to honor Dr.Sivaji Ganesan, the Mayor of the city, Mr.Greg Lashutka, honored him by announcing him as an "Honorary Citizen" of Columbus City. On the same occasion the Mayor of Mount Vernon, another city in the USA, read out and gave him a Special Welcome Citation. The "Columbus Tamil Sangam" was formulated on that day, and Dr.Sivaji Ganesan was made the Honourary President of that association.
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FILMOGRAPHY OF DR.SIVAJI GANESAN SIVAJI 300 NOT OUT
OUT OF 300 FILMS RELEASED ,122 FILMS WERE DUBBED IN TAMIL, KANNADA, TELUGU, HINDI, BENGALI, MARATHI LANGUAGES.
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President of India.
Some patriotic pictures like "Veera Pandiya
Kattabomman", "Kappalotia Tamizhan",
"Raktha Thilagam", "Bharatha
Vilas", etc, deserves special mention. His part in
Police Centenary Documentary "Ungal Nanban" (Your
Friend), the National Defence Documentary "Thai Nadu"
(Mother Land), and in "Singa Natham Ketkuthu" (Lion's
Roar is heard) deserves praise.The movie "Veera
Pandiya Kattabomman" brought him the Best Actor Award at
the AFRO ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL held in Cairo in 1960. He has also appeared
in short films made by Doordarshan and Tamil Nadu Films Division,
subjects being "The Freedom Struggle" and "Soldiers
Welfare".
rupees
to Late Indian Prime Minister Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, towards 'Mid-Day
Meals' for poor school children. 
Madras
for a period of eight years. During his tenure, he constructed a big
Auditorium for presenting public dramas and as well
as a Mini Cinema projection Theatre for a value of
Rs.25,00,000/-. From this income he arranged to give some amount to the
helpless poor artistes, permanently, through this Association.