Sivaji Ganesan’s basic Deiva Magan celebrates its Golden jubilee immediately. The movie, which launched on September 5, 1969, noticed each crucial and industrial success. In reality, it was the primary Tamil movie to be chosen as India’s entry to the 42nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. However, it wasn’t nominated. Deiva Magan was an adaptation of a Bengali novel and its subsequent play known as Ulka, by Nihar Ranjan Gupta. The 1963 Hindi movie Meri Surat Teri Ankhen was additionally primarily based on this novel. Ashok Kumar performed the lead, whereas the songs had been by SD Burman. There was one other model, Thaayin Karunai, directed by GV Iyer and starring Kalyan Kumar in 1965. The Tamil adaptation by director AC Tirulokchandar (ACT) was distinctive as a result of it had the nice thespian Sivaji Ganesan on the helm, essaying three characters — Shankar, a wealthy industrialist, and his two sons Kannan and Vijay. Both brothers really feel insecure about their look, for they’ve enormous birthmark on their faces. Sivaji made positive that he confirmed variations in his characters.
Story of a cult
Sivaji Ganesan’s elder son, Ramkumar Ganesan, recalled how his father obtained into the pores and skin of the characters. He was a college-going child when Sivaji was prepping for Deiva Magan. The concept was to provide Sivaji a glance nearer to Quasimodo within the Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939). It was Sivaji who insisted that they scale back the unattractiveness of the character, after attempting out prosthetics. His logic was that the viewers ought to sympathise with the character for his shortcomings, and never really feel repulsed. Makeup artist Rangaswamy gave a complicated look to Shankar, whereas Kannan pores and skin tone was a number of shades darker than Vijay. While Periannan of Shanthi movies needed to shoot it in color, it was Sivaji who recommended that this movie be shot in black and white — a call accepted by the director. Sivaji, nevertheless, needed to retain the aggression of Quasimodo, thereby giving Kannan that roughness and brute energy. This was evident within the scene the place he swings on the chandelier within the animated track sequence — ‘Deivame Deivame’. Dilip Kumar’s Bairaag (1976) was stated to be impressed by this movie. Ramkumar additional added that his father had taken the physique language and magnificence of the veteran director and his shut good friend CV Sridhar, to play Vijay. After watching Deiva Magan, Sridhar instructed Ramkumar that solely Sivaji might have achieved it so superbly.
Sivaji Ganesan performs three characters in ‘Deiva Magan’
| Photo Credit:
E.Gnanam
Blast from the previous
When I used to be discussing this movie with ACT a number of months earlier than he handed away, he recalled how he was instructed by his assistants about this elaborate sequence that wanted trimming. He watched it a number of instances and couldn’t resolve what to edit out, and instructed his assistants that it wanted no trimming, since all three actors did an important job. Only then it dawned on him that the three characters had been performed by Sivaji Ganesan. From its conception to path, ACT was so mesmerised by his efficiency that it didn’t strike him that it was achieved by a single actor. Anyone who has watched Deiva Magan would have guessed the scene I’m speaking about. It’s the one the place Kannan hides behind a cabinet, gesturing to his father to provide his youthful brother the cheque that was truly meant for him. ACT remembered how robust it was to shoot that scene. It needed to be achieved with Sivaji altering his makeover between the photographs, because the digital camera couldn’t be moved. This meant that the actor needed to stand in a selected spot to mouth his strains, shortly change his makeover to play the second character, and stand in the identical spot once more and act for the digital camera.
‘Deiva Magan’ was the primary Tamil movie to be chosen for the Oscars
| Photo Credit:
E.Gnanam
“Sivaji insisted that I stand in for him, prompting dialogues for him,” he instructed me. Sivaji had an important respect for DMK chief CN Annadurai. Which is why he paid homage to him by means of the track ‘Deivame Deivame’ track, sung by TM Soundararajan. Out of nowhere, Sivaji pauses through the center of the track and screams “Anna”. The music was composed by MS Viswanathan and lyrics written by Kannadasan. Deiva Magan launched in Madras, simply 4 weeks after the discharge of Sivaji’s Niraikudam. A pair of weeks after the discharge of Deiva Magan, one other ACT movie, Thirudan, starring Sivaji launched, and inside a month got here the large-price range Sivantha Mann. Yet, Deiva Magan accomplished a 100-day run on the field workplace. Which goes on to point out that Sivaji Ganesan’s solely competitors was himself.
The author is an actor and a movie historian
