Cinemaazi remembers Gemini Ganesan on his death anniversary

At a time when Tamil cinema was dominated by the superheroics of MGR or the fiery performances of Sivaji Ganesan, Gemini Ganesan occupied the position of the quintessential romantic hero. His films traditionally featured him as the gentle, soft-spoken hero and were usually devoid of extreme violence. Rising to stardom with his role in Manampol Mangalyam (1953), he would go on to be called the Kadhai Mannan (King of Romance). Today, on his death anniversary, we look back on one of his career's big successes, Ramu (1966). A curious case of the remake being the bigger success than the original, the film was based on Kishore Kumar's directorial debut Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein (1964). The remake had a more fleshed out screenplay by Javer Seetharaman, the film featured endearing performances from Ganesan and Master Rajkumar. Interestingly, the lead role was supposed to go to Jaishankar, but Gemini Ganesan personally went to AVM to request the role. The film became a huge box office success, running over 100 days (Ashok Kumar attended its 100th day celebration function). Many theatre owners demanded the removal of the song Nilavae ennidam nerungadhey, claiming it was slowing the film down. Though AVM was open to removing it, his son Kumaran put his foot down. The film was awarded the National Film Award for Best Film in Tamil.