Rekha's father Gemini Ganesan dead
The matinee idol of the South Indian cinema of yesteryears Gemini Ganesan died of renal failure after prolonged illness in a nursing home early morning. He was 84 and is survived by his widow, seven daughters and one son. They include well-known gynecologist Kamla Selvaraj and Bollywood actress Rekha. Ms. Selvaraj performed his last rites in an electric crematorium with the help of her one cousin. Vijay Satish, the only son of the late actor
could not arrive from the United States in time. Shooting of films in Tamil Nadu were cancelled as a mark of respect to the thespian. He had a film career spanning over five decades from 1950.
Born in an orthodox Brahim family of Thanjavur, he started his career as a teacher in Madras Christian College. But a meeting with a cameraman of Gemini Studios changed his entire life. He joined the Gemini Studios in 1947 as an Executive, and became an actor in 1950. When he started his film career, he was called GEMINI Ganesan. He was very popular as a romantic hero. He was called Kaadal Mannan (King of Romance) by his fans. He has acted in over 200 films in various South Indian languages.
His heroines include Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, Sowkar Janki,Savithri whom he later married, Vaijayanthi Mala, Devika and B Saroja Devi. He was awarded Padmashree in 1971 by the Government of India. But unlike other film personalities in South India, he kept himself aloof from politics.
DMK supremo M Karunanidhi has written scripts for many of his films. He and Dr Jayalalithaa were among thousands of eminent personalities who rushed to pay their last respects to the yesteryears' hearthorb of millions of people in South India.
President APJ Abdul Kalam,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Information and Broadcasting Minister S Jaipal Reddy have joined the nation in recalling his contribution to the film industry.
An era has come to an end with the demise of Gemini Ganesan. He has popularized Cinema among the masses. He has helped many aspirants to come up in the competitive filmdom, says the President of India.
Courtesy: Smashits
