CHENNAI: Most people would credit Prabhu with his dashing talent and being the son of an enigmatic Sivaji Ganesan for having entered tinseltown. But the popular actor, who was last seen in the Telugu version of Drishyam, says that there was another important person behind his acting career, “Not many people are aware of it, but Rama Narayanan was one of the reasons that I entered films and have such a great career,” says the actor.
A few hours before his body was sent from a Singapore hospital towards his one true home — Kodambakkam — veteran filmmaker Rama Narayanan’s friends from the industry began to pay rich tributes to the man he was. Narayanan, had passed away after his kidneys gave way and his condition deteriorated, on Sunday.
Even as the Nadigar Sangam and other trade bodies have decided to call off shooting for a day to honour the 65-year-old film industry stalwart, Prabhu remembers how he was as amazing a person as he was a shrewd producer, “He was an expert at picking films to produce and distribute — whether they were family films or mass films. He would immediately say whether a film would work or not,” says Prabhu, who first worked with him in the 1983 film Soorakottai Singakutti. “But the best part about him was that he was always there for me and anyone else who needed help. He was just a phone call away and that is exactly the way he had been from then until now,” he adds.
Though he had maintained a relatively low profile over the past five years, his penchant for comedy had led him to co-produce Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya with comedy’s current king, Santhanam, under his Thenandal Films banner. “I am shocked to hear of the demise of my lovable producer. May his soul rest in peace,” said Santhanam.
Admitting that Narayanan was one of the directors who pushed Prabhu to make a re-entry to films in the late-90’s, he remembers how they’d had a successful run with well-budgeted comedy films like Thirupathi Elumalai Venkatesa and Kanda Kadamba Kathirvela, “One tradition that Narayanan has given Tamil films is the habit of eating kadalai mittai after lunch on the sets. I picked up the habit from him and today practically everybody has a bite before starting the shoot again,” he says with a laugh, before adding, “He was a man who was small in structure, but had a very big heart. We will all miss him.”