AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN ACTOR... Shivaji Ganesan
Sabita Radhakrishna
Many years ago, just after the great actor Sivaji Ganeshan passed on, I wrote a very personal piece in The Hindu. It touched on the meetings I had in the thespian’s home, the feast that was laid out every Sunday, and the warmth and hospitality that he extended to all his guests. This prompted his son Ram Kumar to visit us at home asking if I could do the English version of the Biography of the Actor. I felt honoured and agreed immediately. Almost a year or two later, Ram visited me again and said that the Tamil biography was complete, and I had to translate it into English. It was a challenging task as it meant putting in English words and writing sentences as Sivaji would have spoken.
It was an assignment I greatly enjoyed.