Dr.Ganesh's tribute to Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan..:

Dr.Ganesh, after a mesmerising talk on the legendary Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan

Opening his lecture with a radical truth that Sivaji Ganesan's theory of acting was entirely different when compared to the present, Dr.Ganesh, in his lecture on the legend, discussed elaborately on his method of acting, stylisation etc. Elaborating on the difference between lokadharma and naatyadharmi, he said that for

Sivaji, the body was a 'kalam', by a fusion of these two. Sivaji is a poetics of abhinaya. Moreover, Sivaji is a system. For example, in the film Rajaraja Cholan, even though Sivaji is slightly shorter than actress Lakshmi in stature, in the film it won't look so. Malayalam actor Mammootty, eulogising the legendary Thespian, says that, 'for Sivaji, his immense range alone is enough'. 

Acting is about simulation, which is the art of recreating a situation - or a just representation of something else. If you think about a tragedy in your house and act out a tragic scene in a particular film, you don't have artistic control over the situation. It can never be called an artistic feeling. The finest actor is one who can thrive on stage in a completely convincing way - and yet feel absolutely nothing. This is the paradox of the actor. 

Hence the words of the great Kannadasan can rightly be applied to Sivaji:

"koottum isaiyum kooththin muraiyum

kattum yennidam kadhai-solla vandhayo

asaiyum porulil isaiyum nane

adum kalaiyin nayagan nane

yedhilum iyangum iyakkam nane"

In his famous 1963 film 'Paar Magale Paar,' he dons the role of a character who is obsessed with the pride of money. In this film, one can easily find that impish arrogance in what can be called the music of his shoulders. Instead of calling it as Sivaji's body language, we can re-phrase it as - 'Sivaji's body becomes a language.' Even his tonal variations are a treat to watch, he said. 

Talking on the concept of 'hybridity' from a postcolonial perspective, Dr.Ganesh said that the influence of English is prevalent in every aspect of film making today. As such, Sivaji, although not educated in English, acted out his scenes in Deiva Magan with aplomb. 

While expressing sadness over the fact that this legendary actor never got any national award for all his commitment to his vocation, he attributed it to the 'Politics of Recognition'. In this to be contd...