Disappointed by the fact that Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami will not be attending the inaugural of the memorial for yesteryear actor actor Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan, his actor-son Prabhu sent a letter to the Information and Broadcasting Minister Kadumbur Raju, expressing the same.
“Through his movies, he has contributed so much for Tamil culture and language. We feel that a small function for our our father is tantamount to disrespecting him,” the actor said in the letter, which was sent on behalf of Mr. Ganesan’s family and fans.
Statue moved
A ‘manimandapam’ dedicated to the late actor, which was built by the government at a cost of ₹2.8 crore is scheduled to be inaugurated on October 1, which happens to be his birth anniversary.
A statue of Sivaji Ganesan which was earlier removed from Kamarajar Salai too is said to be installed there.
On Wednesday, the State government, in a statement said that the memorial would be inaugurated by Minister Kadambur Raju and did not mention anything about the Chief Minister attending the programme.
In the letter, Mr. Prabhu further said that while he was happy about the Tamil Nadu government organising an inaugural of the memorial, he said that he was disappointed that the Chief Minister or the Deputy Chief Minister were not scheduled to attend the event. “Appa’s memorial was the great Puratchi Thalaivi Amma’s dream project and were she alive, she would have presided over the inaugural and done justice to our Nadigar Thilagam’s soul,” the letter read.
Stating that it was a humble request from him and their family, Mr. Prabhu appealed to the Information and Broadcasting minister to ask the Chief Minister and other government dignitaries to consider attending the inaugural of the memorial.
Published - September 29, 2017 01:00 am IST
