Potpourri of titbits about Tamil cinema

After this incident, Gemini telephoned to me and said that he, along with Julie met Kalaignar to receive his blessings for their first Diwali after marriage. After a few months, Gemini’s secretary Mahalingam told that as Julie had been the source of tension and friction in Gemini’s family she had been sent out of Gemini’s life with the help of some bigwigs with a fat settlement amount. Gemini had reunited with his family and was happy too, he added. And he invited me and told me that Gemini wanted me to attend his Sadhaabhishek (80th birthday celebration), to be celebrated in another two weeks.

There were many dramatic turns in Gemini Ganesh’s life till his end. But he was always jovial, honest and never meant to harm anybody.

Director K. Subramaniam wanted to re-make the film Kachadevayani into Kannada language. When he was walking along with the Kannada writer Babu on a street in Bangalore, he spotted a young girl-student bypassing them. Both of them were very much impressed by that girl. Babu knew who that girl was. Chief Minister Hanumanthaiya’s brother was known to that girl’s family. The minister’s brother, who was very much interested in fine arts had been encouraging that girl to enter the field. That girl was talented in music and she learned dancing also. Then she entered cinema. When Subramaniam was talking to MGR about the film Nadodi mannan, he mentioned about that girl and recommended her for the film. MGR immediately sent for that girl and made her his heroine too. That student was none other than ‘Abhinaya Saraswathi’ B. Sarojadevi!