By Jagmohan Singh Barhok

On His Birth Anniversary

ओ रात के मुसाफिर
चंदा ज़रा बता दे
मेरा क़ुसूर क्या है
तू फैसला सुना दे

Known as ‘King of Romance’ the Tamil actor later became famous as Gemini Ganesan. He was one of the three “Big’ names in Tamil cinema-the other two being M. G. Ramachandran(MGR) & Sivaji Ganesan. MGR was popular as an action hero and Sivaji mostly did dramatic roles in films. Gemini married twice first with Alamelu, with whom he lived throughout and Savitri, one of the finest actress down South. His third wife Pushpavalli, mother of actress Rekha, was not his legally wedded wife.

Ganesan did three Hindi films -“Devta” (1956) starring Anjali Devi, Vyjayanthimala & Bipin Gupta with dialogue written by Pandit Mukhram Sharma, “Miss Marry” (1957) opposite Meena Kumari with a hit number ‘O Raat Ke Musafir Chanda Zara Bata De’ starring Kishore Kumar, Jamuna, Om Prakash & Achala Sachdev & Raj Tilak” ( 1958) starring Vyjayanthimala, Padmini, Gemini Ganeshan & Pran. It was directed by S. S. Vasan. Kamal Haasan made his film debut with his 1960 movie “Kalathur Kannamma” as a child artist also starring Savitri . They later featured in many films.

“Mahanati” (The great actress),a biographical drama film written and directed by Nag Ashwin, was released in 2018 depicting the life of great actress Savitri whom Ganesan deprived of everything. Keerthy Suresh played the role of Savitri. The film won many accolades and was critically acclaimed. There were comments & counter comments from different quarters relating the story & the life of Gemini Ganesan after the release of the film.

Gemini Ganeshan died in 2005.