Sivaji Ganesan overcame many hurdles to stage the story of Veerabandiya Kattabomman, which was the lifelong dream of actor Thilakam Sivaji Ganesan.
Sivaji Ganesan is one of the indispensable actors in Tamil cinema. Sivaji Ganesan made his film debut in 1952 with the movie Parasakthi, directed by Krishnan Panchu and written by Karunanidhi., He created his own fan base in the very first film, He also received many praises.
At the time of the release of Parashakti, an editor named Sampath Kumar wrote in the newspapers that Sivaji Ganesan would become a big star in the coming years. Sampathkumar mentioned Sivaji as the drama of the month when the film Parashakti was released, He had written that Shivaji would emerge as a great star in the future. Accordingly, Sivaji Ganesan, who emerged as a leading star by giving many hits, has acted in many historical films.
A notable film in this list is Veerapandiya Kattabomman. When Sivaji Ganesan was a child, He has seen many plays. The play that caught his attention was Veerapandiya Kattabommaman. He developed interest in acting after watching this play, He joined a theater group and started acting in plays. After that he made his debut as a hero in Parashakti with the help of Perumal Mudaliar.
After that, Sivaji, who became a top star in cinema, continued to act in plays as well. But he didn’t get the chance to accept the character of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, his wish and dream. Once he conducted a play through his theater, While visiting the Gayatharu area where Kattabomman was hanged, He asked Shakti Kandaswamy, the head of his drama group, to write a story telling him that Kattabomman should perform the play. Accordingly, he wrote the play and after reading it, Sivaji was mesmerized and went into the character of Kattabomman.
Since then it has been almost 20 months to make this play. And then the diagram for the scene, Everything was prepared like clothes. After that, the rehearsal for the play was held for a few days. In the year 1957, Veerapandiya’s Kattabomman play was performed for the first time at the Salem Exhibition Theatre. Public support for this play is increasing, Shivaji’s lifelong dream has come true.
