‘Gemini’ Ganesan was sandwiched between dialogue-driven Sivaji Ganesan and swashbuckling, Good Samaritan M G Ramachandran and yet carved a niche for himself with his own brand of acting.
The soft-spoken hero came into his own and could display a full range of talent when exploited by talented directors like Sridhar and K Balachander. The unusual, off-beat films like ‘Punnagai’ and ‘Naan Avan Illai’, made by Balachander, established Gemini Ganesan as an actor par excellence.
In ‘Punnagai’, he portrayed an idealist who is frustrated by the system. In ‘Naan Avan Illai’, he was a conman who kept the police at bay, even while duping several women.
In real life too, Gemini Ganesan was said to have been a Casanova and, therefore, the title of ‘Kaadhal Mannan’ (King of Romance), which was the sobriquet he was known by, was in a way apt. His private life was an open book and so he was subjected to a lot of criticism.
But he also had a heart of gold. When his third wife and equally famous actress Savithri, with whom he had broken off, slipped into coma in later years, it was said he looked after her and supported her medical expenditure.
In spite of his filmy background, he ensured that his daughters were well educated. Though his daughter through his first wife, renowned actress Rekha, chose his profession and is still a name to reckon with in Hindi filmdom, the other daughters, through his second wife, have established themselves in their chosen fields.
Today marks Gemini's 90th birth anniversary.
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