Love, an often abused word

Nadigaiyar Thilakam (2018)

People do a lot of things under the guise of love. They justify wrongdoings and rationalise breaking of sacred bonds with the same excuse. They sanitise guilt by saying that love conquers all. They give love such a status as if it is the one that maintains human civilisation and makes the world go around. In short, love moves mountains. Love is Grace. Love is God.

Perhaps love has been over-glorified. If we were to dissect love into subsets, maybe then the true intentions may manifest. A rose in any language may smell the same, but its thorns hurt, nevertheless. To be fascinated, to admire, to have passion, to desire, to have devotion, to like, to lust, to obsess, all denote different degrees of love. The end results in the pursuit of these ambitions may not always be a happy ending. 

This film is a biopic drama of the darling of the early 1960s' Tamil silver screen, Mrs Savithri Ganesan. Savithri landed in Kollywood in the 1950s as a starry-eyed youngster. Even though failing to secure an acting role initially, she made her acquaintance with Gemini Ganesan. By a twist of fate, she finally was given a role in Kollywood and developed a relationship with an already married Gemini.

The story tells about their union, how they legitimise their wedding using love as a reason. Surprisingly this power of love only lasted as far as the going was good. When Savithri's career outshone Gemini's, he became defensive. The romance fizzled out and, hatred took over. Booze took charge to numb the pain. Love took the form of another woman. Somehow, it all made sense when Savithri was the other woman but not when she was two-timed.

Bad business decisions and naivety landed Savithri in a collision course with the Income Tax. Embroiled in debts, alcoholism and bad health, she never regained her rightful place as the doyen of the Tamil cinema but died a pauper.

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The products of a romantic star of the yesteryear!

Now you see all the children of Gemini Ganesan (of four wives, at least) posing gleefully for the camera after coming from different corners of the world to see the ailing father on his deathbed. They seem to found peace with the contributor of their half of their 46 chromosomes. Sure, growing up must have been hell seeing their respective mothers shedding tears, indulgence in unhealthy activities with one of them falling prey to the curse of the black dog, hating the sight of each step sibling, their respective heartaches all because of the evil done by one man who could not put his raging testesterones under check! Perhaps,the flashing lights and his dizzying heights that his career took clouded his judgement. After all, he was only human...

Gems of Gemini Ganesan
L-R: Dr Revathi Swaminathan, Narayani Ganesan,
Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Rekha, Vijaya Chamundeswari and
Dr Jaya Shreedhar. 
(Abs: Radha Usman Syed, Sathish Kumaar Ganesan)

Seeing six of Gemini Ganesan's seven daughters together is rare.
In December 2004, when he was very ill, they decided to come down to Chennai and nurse their father.

They met again in February 2005 at Chennai's Apollo Hospital. Rekha was to inaugurate the Apollo Wellness Clinic, and all the sisters except Rekha's sister, Radha, made it a point to attend the function.

The eldest among the six sisters is Dr Revathi Swaminathan, a radiation oncologist practising in Illinois, USA. Dr Kamala Selvaraj, Gemini Ganesan's second daughter, runs the G G Hospital in Chennai. Narayani Ganesan is a journalist with The Times Of India in Delhi. The youngest is Dr Jaya Shreedhar, a health advisor with Inter News Network.

Rekha and Radha are Gemini Ganesan's daughters of actress Pushpavalli, and Vijaya Chamundeswari, daughter of actress Savithri, is a fitness expert working at the G G Hospital.
"The only one missing is Rekha's sister Radha, who is in the US," says Dr Jaya Shreedhar. "She is elder to both Viji [Vijaya] and me.

"Though Appa was unwell, we had some good moments when we met in December. People may assume that there are strained relationships because we don't share the same mother, but there is nothing like that," she adds.

"We are professional women, and over the years, have learnt to appreciate each sister for what she is. We did not have the pleasure of growing up together. In fact, between my own elder sister Revathi and me, there is a 20-year age difference. Appa was thrilled to have all of us together. This was a pleasure he never had when we were young."

Jaya was the only daughter who saw her father at home when she was young. "By the time I was born, he was a senior star, had moved out of those relationships, and was with my mother. It is extraordinary, but the upbringing was in a way that there was never any ill-will. You are born into it," she says.

"Suppose we were raised in a middle-class, rigid culture; I might have found it unusual and emotionally challenging. When we sisters met this time, it was more like six 'wild' cousins meeting and talking non-stop. It was lots of fun!"

"..Though there is no correct account of the number of wives he had, it is widely believed that he was married to Alamelu, Savitri and Pushpavalli. He is survived by seven daughters and a son. His children are Revathi Swaminathan, Kamala Selvaraj, Narayani Ganesh, Jaya Shreedhar, actress Rekha, Radha Usman Syed, Vijaya Chamundeswari and Sathish Kumaar Ganesan...." Wikipedia