Sivaji Ganesan birthday: Google pays tribute to him on his 93rd birth anniversary with doodle

Internet search giant Google on Friday paid tribute to actor Sivaji Ganesan on his 93rd birth anniversary. Bengaluru-based artist Noopur Rajesh Choksi has created the Doodle, Google noted. Sivaji Ganesan was among the most successful actors in the Tamil Film industry during the latter half of the 20th century.

Vikram Prabhu, Ganesan’s grandson and also an actor, tweeted the doodle with the caption, “Appreciate the people from Google India & their guest artist Noopur Rajesh Choksi for the doodle art. Another proud moment!?? Love him and miss him more every year!”

Ganesan was born on October 1, 1928, as Ganesamoorthy in Villupuram in Madras Presidency (present-day Tamil Nadu) of what was then British India. At the age of just seven, he left his home to join a theatre group. In December 1945, Ganesamoorthy portrayed Maratha ruler Shivaji in a play titled “Shivaji Kanda Hindu Rajyam.” Such iconic was his performance that the name stuck, and Ganesamoorthy earned the moniker of “Sivaji,” being known by that name for the rest of his life.

Though he was mainly active in Tamil cinema, where he made his debut in 1952’s “Parasakthi,” Ganesan appeared in nearly 300 films, including those in languages such as Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. In a career that spanned nearly five decades, he won several awards, and was the first Indian actor to win a Best Actor award at an international film festival (Afro-Asian Film Festival in Cairo, Egypt), winning for his performance in 1960’s “Veerapandiya Kattabomman.”

In 1997, he was honored by the Indian government with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest award in the field of cinema. He passed away on July 21, 2001, at the age of 72.