Those Were The Days: When Villupuram Ganesan became ‘Sivaji’

After EVR’s break with Congress, the first Self Respect Conference was held at Chengalpattu in 1929. Soon, these conferences turned into big gatherings with speeches, songs and plays, all underlining anti-Brahminism.

In 1945, the 7th Self-Respect Conference was held in Madras and Annadurai had written a play to be premiered there, surprisingly based on a non-Tamil leader Chatrapati Sivaji. In Chandramohan or Sivaji Kanda Hindu Rajjiyam, Anna himself would play the role of Khagha Bhatta-Sivaji’s guru.

Co-incidentally, the great Shivaji had once attempted to lay waste Madras in its nascent stages. He had been softened with gifts and a show of submissiveness by the British and Madras unlike Surat was left alone by the Maratha leader. But then Anna’s story didn’t mention this Madras factor nor other martial exploits of Shivaji. 

Rather it dealt with the quandaries the king had to undergo with local priestly Brahmins before his coronation, as he was not born a Kshatriya — the rank that could rule by Vedic dictum Anna has produced 50 novels, 100 short stories but they were not dazzling by any standard, mainly because Anna felt that his writing was a vehicle for social amendment. 

But as a playwright and later cinema screenplay writer, Anna certainly did attain the degree of accomplishment that much later politics would idolise him with. Even in 1945, EVR   would grudgingly admit in his presidential speech that Anna’s Sivaji drama had passed on notions that he himself could convey only in 10 conferences.

MGR’s performances in the film Maya Machindra impressed talent scouts and he was offered the title role. Anna records his first impressions on MGR: “When I first saw him, I suspected that he was an Aryan. Later, I was pleased learning that he was in fact Dravidian.  There is no doubt that his looks will bring success to our plans for the future.”  Anna gave MGR a copy of Marathi writer Khandekar’s The Burnt Bud and said “you will find many ideas”.

MGR was given the play as a 90-page script and he was overwhelmed by it as long dialogues were not his forte. He felt it would take him a week just memorise the fiery words. In the end, just days before the play’s debut, MGR backed out and left for Coimbatore. Even his costumes had been stitched by then. 

Rumous had it that his brother Chakrapani had advised MGR against being branded as a DK man and risk losing other opportunities. It would be another eight years before MGR would formally associate himself with Anna and become his closest follower. But just then the play risked being abandoned for the lack of a suitable hero. But fate willed otherwise.

There was another parallel development in the theatre world with MKT and NSK being arrested for the alleged murder of a blackmailer. NSK’s drama company splintered and without a patron, many drama artistes went in search of newer pastures. 

Seventeen-year-old Villupuram Ganesan, known for his female roles on stage, migrated to Kancheepuram and lived in Anna’s house doing small chores at the newspaper Dravida Nadu. He helped operate the manual printing press and assisted in composing of typefaces.

Having observed Ganesan at close quarters, Anna had a brainwave and asked him whether he was willing to play the lead role of Sivaji. The young man was taken aback but, Anna convinced him to give it a try and handed over the script. 

According to records, when Anna returned six hours later, Ganesan knew the script by heart and even asked Anna to sit down while he started delivering the lines for all the characters in the cast. At the end of a spell binding performance, Anna rushed to hug Ganesan.

Stout MGR’s costumes were then altered to fit a frail Ganesan and EVR, who presided over the play, was impressed.  “From today you are Sivaji” said the chief guest.

It would, however, be years before Ganesan could use the title. (In his debut movie Parasakthi he was titled just VC Ganesan.) There were another five years of struggle before Anjali Devi made a bilingual movie Paradesi and chose him to play the second male lead. Though this was his first movie, his second-Parasakthi released earlier.

It failed miserably at the box office while his other movie Parasakthi made waves.  Years later, Sivaji repaid his gratitude to Anjali Devi by acting as Chatrapathi Sivaji in Anjali Pictures’ Bhaktha Thukaram’ without taking any remuneration.