A Starmaker I Knew

In loving memory of my Chitappa (Uncle), P.N.Sadasivan(1939-2001) Recently I had gone for Ullam Kekume at Devi Paradise. This was the movie in the midst of whose production, G.Venkateswaran,popularly known as G.V.,passed away in a most unfortunate manner. Inevitably I was reminded of this and flooded with memories of my uncle who is also no more. My uncle was the General Manager of G.V. films and stood by G.V.Sir, as he used to call him, until his own death, which was in January 2001. G.V. was the producer of several blockbusters such as Nayagan, Thalapathi and Anjali.Nayakan, arguably the most celebrated film in the history of Tamil Cinema may not have even hit the screens if it had not been for this soft spoken producer. Muktha Srinivasan who was the initial producer of the film refused to finance it when it was well under production and GV had to step in and take over financing the film. Next to G.V. himself, it was my uncle who did all the important work for Sujatha Films(G.V’s production company).From financing to overseeing minute details such as organizing preview shows for movies nothing happened in G.V. films without Sada Chitappa’s knowledge. During the Michael Jackson case (the pop star took a huge advance from G.V for concerts he was supposed to perform in Madras and Bombay and dropped out without repaying the advance) my uncle used to go to court almost on a daily basis. When the production company’s films such as May Madham started regularly flopping he was among those who suggested that G.V give up film production and focus on distribution. The stress of having so much responsibility on him started having a huge toll on Sada Chitappa.Inspite of everything he was unwavering in his rock solid commitment to his work. In the last months of his life terminal health complications (heart problem and cancer) forced him to stop working. And yet, inspite of being incapacitated, until his passing he remained the General Manager at Sujatha films.Such was the esteem in which he was held. Rajnikant’s fans boast about how their talaivar(leader)’s film Muthu became a blockbuster in Japan. Few would remember it was G.V’s idea to market the film in Japan and it was his ingenious marketing of the film, which made the above-mentioned actor popular in that country.People like G.V and my uncle are the starmakers behind the stars.How many of us think about the backbreaking work that the production and distribution units of a film have to do? When a movie bombs it is the production team, which has to bear the brunt. When it succeeds new stars are born, exsisting stars become demi-Gods.What happens to the starmakers behind the stars? Only some occasional outpouring from the heart,from an emotional family member like me. But you know what I really believe? For my uncle the satisfaction he derived from his total commitment to his work was all that mattered.That is a starmaker for you.