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They were contemporaries, they were rivals in the film world and they ended up as political adversaries too. Sivaji Ganesan and M G Ramachandran, both striving for the No. 1 spot in the Tamil film industry, had only one film together over four decades.
 'Koondukili' was the film in which the two starred together. It was their first and last film together, as according to movie observers, their relationship was a strained one even then.
Sivaji had made his mark with 'Parasakthi' but MGR was the more accomplished hero in the traditional sense, swashbuckling, attractive and the formula guy.
Fans of Sivaji and MGR clashed over who was the better hero. MGR, the shrewd tactician that he was, kept a close watch on Sivaji films in the making and planned counter-moves against them.
When a Sivaji big budget film was to be released, MGR would come up with a matcher of an entertainer biggie, which would ensure that Sivaji's rise was checked.
While Sivaji confined himself to his role in the film and gave it all he had in acting, MGR's involvement in a film was total. He was the behind-the-scenes director. MGR would sit during song recordings and would not be convinced till he heard more than a dozen variations of a song. He would ask for better and better tunes till he was sure he would get an instant hit.
MGR opted for young heroines, still in their early teens, cashing in on their glamour, while it was Sivaji's lot to have older heroines.
While Sivaji did act in fight sequences, MGR scored over the thespian in daring and well-executed fight scenes.
Above all, MGR made it his business to entertain people not have them weeping or seeing their problems re-enacted on the silver screen. Thus, Sivaji's films slowly moved into the emotional genre while MGR concentrated on wholesome entertainment. Thus it was that MGR widened the gap between him and Sivaji in the race for the top position.
However, despite all that MGR did to pip Sivaji at the box office, he could not take away the tag of a super actor that was Sivaji's all the way. Outwardly they were friendly towards one another, but deep down the rivalry was too intense for two intense performers to hide.
R Rangaraj
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