Few actors could get into the skin of a character as effortlessly as did Delhi Ganesh who passed away on Sunday. Whether as the police officer in Rajinikanth-starrer ‘Polladhavan’ (1980) or the advocate in Vijay’s ‘Thamizhan’ (2002). Ganesh made the audience believe he was what he was not.
In K Balachander’s ‘Sindhu Bhairavi’ (1985), the first choice for the role of mridangam player Gurumoorthy was Carnatic musician T V Gopalakrishnan. After the latter expressed his reluctance to play an alcoholic, Ganesh took it on and so impressed Illaiyaraaja who couldn’t believe he hadn’t trained in the percussion instrument.
A director’s delight, with the ability to make role memorable, one of his performances, as Ganesh told actor Suhasini in a recent TV show, did not make it to the screen. Planned for Mani Ratnam’s ‘Nayakan’, his display of a father’s grief on losing his daughter girl to sexual harassment, brought tears to the director, Kamal Haasan and P C Sriram, but had to be axed.
Beginning on stage with Dakshina Bharata Nataka Sabha in Delhi, where he was in the IAF, the Tirunelveli native debuted in Tamil cinema in Balachander’s ‘Pattina Pravesam’ (1977) and in a 48-yearlong career, played a myriad characters in 400-odd films — cop to killer, hero to villain, and comedian.
His combination with Kamal Haasan — whether as Velu Naicker’s trusted aide in ‘Nayakan’, as venerable Palakkad Mani Iyer in ‘Michael Madhana Kama Rajan’ (1990), or the smarmy Sethurama Iyer in ‘Avvai Shanmugi’ (1996) — showcased his talent like little else did. Ganesh also shared the screen with Rajinikanth in hits such as ‘Engeyo Ketta Kural’, ‘Sree Raaghavendar’ (1985), and ‘Baba’ (2002). His voice was another signature facet of his performances, and when dubbed for Chiranjeevi in ‘47 Natkal’ (1981), only the discerning could tell it was not the Telugu star who was speaking. He wowed Bollywood too, his role alongside Shah Rukh Khan in ‘Chennai Express’.
Ganesh, says veteran directoractor Chitralakshmanan, was a natural talent who brought authenticity to every role. “In his entire career, there is no single character which he did not perform well… He had friends beyond the film industry, and there was always the sound of laughter around him. He lived a fulfilling life.”
Actor Sathyaraj, who shared screen space with Ganesh in several films, said their conversations on set were endless and cherished. Director Vetrimaran remembered how supportive Ganesh had been when he was an assistant director, while actor Manikandan of ‘Good Night’ fame recalled his humour and modesty.
Ganesh, whose last film appearance was in Kamal Haasan-starrer ‘Indian 2’, marking the end of an era, in 2016 produced ‘Ennul Ayiram’ to launch his son Mahadevan’s acting career.
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