  In his last days, the doyen of Tamil cinema, Sivaji Ganesan, had come to be accepted as a father figure of the Tamil film industry.
He was the hot favourite for award presentation functions, gala functions of the film industry and a person the industry could turn to in the event of a crisis.
A close friend of former chief minister and DMK president M Karunanidhi, Sivaji was naturally Karunanidhi's first choice as chief guest of a function of the film fraternity to felicitate the DMK chief on completion of 50 years in the film world.
The function was held during the DMK rule and the two broke down at the function, recollecting their past.
 Sivaji had also enjoyed a cordial relationship with the present Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa. No doubt, they had starred in a number of films in their career. However, their relationship was further cemented when Jayalalithaa sought a marriage into Sivaji's family for her then foster son V N Sudhagaran. Although, she later disowned him, Sudhagaran had married Sivaji's granddaughter and Jayalalalithaa acquired the status of 'sambandhi' of
Sivaji.
Sivaji was thus among the few persons who had access to the main political personalities of the state which is known for a very sharp political divide that does not allow for too many independent persons with a neutral and non-partisan approach.
The state has thus lost a father figure who could strive for a concensual approach. (Our Correspondent)
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