chennai the kaadhal mannan of yesteryear may be no more but his family friends and admirers gathered together to shower gemini ganesan with love and affection at a function to mark his 90th birthday here on sundaythe late celluloid world star was given a fitting tribute as a biography film of him was released to commemorate his birth anniversary tracing geminis life from his childhood the film showcased how he was always interested in movies and had lead a meaningful life till his death in 2005 gemini ganesan had received the kalaimamani award from the state government and the padmashree from the centre and a stamp was released in his honor after his death lauding the efforts taken by kamala selvaraj to commemorate her fathers birthday with a grand event tamil nadu chief minister m karunanidhi spoke fondly about his relationship with the great actor and spoke about his early life tamil nadu should be proud of having had a talented son like him he said the cm also praised his reformist mind saying he had always risen above caste and religionpoet vaali recalling the days he had worked with gemini said he was the one who introduced kamal hassan into the world of cinema kamals debuted as a child artiste in a film in which gemini was the hero he later on requested film maker k balachander to introduce kamal as a hero had it not been for him the tamil film industry would have lost out on a great actor like kamal said vaalias a director he was one of the best actors to work with he completely trusted the director and i have had the pleasure of scripting many roles for him said balachander poet vairamuthu spoke about his few interactions with gemini ganesan and how he came across as a gentleman he was one of the few actors in those days who entered the film industry backed by a degree from a prestigious college said vairamuthu songs from gemini ganesans movies were sung by s p balasubramaniam vani jayaram and kovai murali and they enthralled the fans of gemini