CHENNAI: Clearly disappointed by the absence of the Chief Minister and even the Deputy Chief Minister during the inauguration of the memorial for acting legend Sivaji Ganesan, his son and actor Prabhu invoked the name of J Jayalalithaa to make a fervent plea to the State not to make this a low-key affair.
“Sivaji Ganesan through his movies has done so much for the Tamil culture and language. So please sir, we feel a small function for our father is disrespecting him. Please reconsider requesting the Chief Minister and dignitaries to attend the inauguration. Our family as well as thousands of Sivaji Ganesan fans are waiting for a favourable reply,” the family said in a letter to Information Minister Kadambur Raju on Thursday.
Establishing the memorial for the late actor was a dream project of Jayalalithaa, they said in the letter, adding that she would have presided over the function if she were alive. The government announced on Wednesday that the memorial would be opened on Sunday by Kadambur Raju in the presence of his colleague D Jayakumar - neither of them belonging to the top three in Cabinet hierarchy.
Grapevine has it there are many reasons for Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam to stay away from the event, including the almost certain presence of actor Kamal Haasan who has become a thorn for the State government and these leaders with his relentless criticism in the recent months.
Joining the issue as it became a controversy, the opposition DMK and the Congress asked the Chief Minister to unveil the statue of the thespian inside the memorial. Vagai Chandrasekar, head of the art and literature wing of the DMK and MLA, said it was an insult to the great actor that the Chief Minister was not willing to unveil his idol.
The film fraternity must mobilise themselves against the injustice meted out to one of its great personalities, Chandrasekar appealed. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president S Thirunavukkarasar demanded that the government organise the event in a befitting manner. The function must be held in the presence of the Chief Minister, actors Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and the family members of the late actor, he said.