Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Ganesan

The perfect artiste in every sense.. Am a die-hard fan of this Legend.. Of course his demise is a great loss for the Tamil industry, but his talents will certainly be remembered and revered forever..

He started acting on stage at the age of seven, made his debut in the Tamil film, "Parasakthi" at 24.. Super added to "voice" and "face" was Sivaji's singular gift of mesmerizing bodily postures and gestures that he aesthetically used with inventive embellishment in his art of characterization. Be it happiness, joy, anxiety, fear,sadness, pain or whatever feel possible on this earth, no one can bring us the feel as this great man does... His majestic gait in certain movies(Raaja - nadai), no one can ever match that.. Some of his fans dont' understand tamil but still they admire him a lot.. For admiring something it isn't necessary that you need to understand it, such is his acting.. His actions conveys as much as his words and the dialogues just adds more to the performance.. He doesn't act but lives the role, that makes each and every role of him all the more naturalistic..

Awards :

• Best Actor Award, Afro-Asian Film Festival,Cairo - 1960
  
• Padma Shri Title - 1966
• Padma Bhushan Title, 1984
• Knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
  
• Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 1996
  
• Kalaimamani
  
• NTR National Award 1998
• He was awarded the title of Chevalier, the Order of Arts and Literature by the Ministry of Culture, Government of France. This is one of the main decorations of the French Republic which is conferred to honor the most original and talented personalities, for their remarkable contributions in the field of Arts and Literature in France and all over the world.
• In 1962, Ganesan toured the U.S, where he was given the honor of being the mayor of Niagara City New York. He along with the former Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru were the only two Indians to be honored this way.
• During a visit to the United States in June 1995, Sivaji Ganesan found himself in Columbus, Ohio,. Mayor Greg Lashutka named him honorary citizen of Columbus at a special dinner.
• The South Indian Film Artistes' Association President Vijaykanth declared that October 1, the birth day of Ganesan, would be observed as Actors' Day in Kollywood
• Actor Marlon Brando visited India and was shown movie clips of Sivaji Ganesan . From then on Brando has admired Sivaji Ganesan for his acting style. He also said that Sivaji Ganesan can act like him but he cannot act like Sivaji Ganesan . This was something special as it has not been said to any other Indian actors from a popular American actor.
• A statue was erected in Chennai to honour this legendary actor in 2006. It was unveiled by the then Chief Minister

People who haven't watched any of his movies, really are missing something in life...