CHENNAI: For long, film and politics continue to be intertwined in the Dravidian land where the influence of the former is writ large on the fortunes of the latter. Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa respects the veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan who contributed his best to the film industry. With her announcement on the government building the memorial for the late thespian, she has dealt a blow to the Congress, striving for a revival in Tamil Nadu.
But, even before the party could hope for a revival, Jayalalithaa is determined to snuff out any such attempt. For, the AIADMK supremo is not prepared to concede the nationalist space which she has acquired over the years.
The legendary star, who strode the Tamil silver screen like a colossus, has long been associated with the Congress despite breaking ranks in his sunset days. The Congress which had no qualms in laying claim to his legacy, is now deprived of that. The party has been rattled with this announcement.
It is indeed a honour to the veteran actor, for not many film personalities of Kollywood have memorials except the charismatic M G Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR, who became a chief minister.
Though there were many legendary actors, only for Sivaji Ganesan there has been a persistent demand for a memorial and Jayalalithaa concurred. Sivaji Ganesan had acted in over 300 films between 1951 and 1999—mostly in Tamil, a couple of films in Hindi (Manohara in 1954 and Darti in 1970), 18 films in Telugu, three films each in Kannada and Malayalam. He had also paired with Jayalalithaa in a few blockbusters.
The film fraternity in Tamil Nadu including actors Rajnikant, Kamal Hassan and the family members of Sivaji Ganesan have welcomed the announcement of Jayalalithaa. Incidentally, the land for raising a memorial was allotted by Jayalalithaa during her earlier tenure as chief minister in 2002. But 13 long years have passed and the South Indian Film Artistes Association to which the land was handed over, could not erect the memorial for various reasons. The fans of Sivaji Ganesan recently observed a day’s fast demanding expeditious completion of memorial.
“Had the association requested the government to raise the memorial then, I would have given orders for that. Since the memorial could not be constructed for many years, there have been requests from various quarters to start construction,” the chief minister told the State Assembly.
When Congress MLA S Vijayadharani said Sivaji Ganesan was with the Congress in the past, the chief minister retorted saying, “Don’t try to fasten the legendary actor in a narrow sphere. He belongs to no party but to the entire country. He belongs to all Tamils across the globe.”
More importantly, the decision on the memorial comes close on the heels of the AIADMK taking on TNCC president EVKS Elangovan for his disparaging remark about the Modi-Jayalaithaa meeting. The Congress was left with just the screen credits.
Kollywood Stars’ Place to Shine
MGR: His memorial on the Marina seafront is a popular tourist destination. His fans from interior Tamil Nadu continue to visit the place refurbished by the Jayalalithaa government.
Kushbu: During her heydays in the tinsel world, her fans constructed a temple for her in Trichy but it was razed to the ground in 2005 when her remark on pre-marital sex created a furore.
Namitha: The sex siren got a temple dedicated to her in Tirunelveli district. Now, she wants to take a political plunge.