Marlon Brando, it seems, once said the above to Sivaji Ganesan when both legendary actors met in Hollywood.
Now, that is what I call a compliment...in fact that is an award by itself. And, I love both men. They are, for me, the epitome of 'passionate hearts at work'. Sivaji was reported to have said that he would like to leave his physical body while at work....acting. Having acted in more than 300 Indian movies (Tamil, Telegu, Hindi,etc), Sivaji has left a mark so profound that not many will dare to call himself or herself as the greatest actor of Tamil cinema for a long time to come. Anyway I doubt there are many people around who can memorize a 95 page script in one day....in classical Tamil! The American Film Institute has named Brando as the 4th greatest male star of all time.
Brando's passion behind such great films like A Streetcar Named Desire and as the iconic Vito Corleone are film materials by themselves. For his role in The Men, he spend a month in bed at a veterans hospital!
Both these actors had a prolific career spanning genres and social changes and they were also of the same generation. Sivaji was born in 1927 and died in 2001 while Brando was born in 1924 and died in 2004. Sivaji acted in his first movie in 1950 (Parasakthi) while Brando in 1950 (The Men).They made movies that broke new boundaries, questioned mores, challenged the status quo and finally enhanced the careers of many others. They developed an acting style that is distinctively theirs and theirs alone. They interpreted their characterizations in ways that set new standards and they did it all with a sense of purpose, destiny AND passion.
No meaningful work or long lasting legacy has ever been produced by those who lack passion for what they do. This applies for the first ever cave artists to present day software designers. Truth to be told, we mere mortals are slaves to those have passion for what they do. Van Gogh, Kitaro, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Hitler, Gandhi, Dr.King, Stalin, Mao,and Mother Theresa have one common denominator : Passion for what they believed in. Some of them of course had their passion hijacked by unfounded fears, greed and revenge. But, it was passion nonetheless.
Passion in work makes our efforts worthwhile. Passion in work makes us more creative problem solvers (Brando stuffed cotton balls into his mouth to have a puffed up look as the don of a crime family in the Godfather!. Passion in work brings us recognition (Columbus city of Ohio once named Sivaji as its honorary citizen). Passion in work makes all the pain vanish without a trace. Passion in work is the differentiator between excellence and mediocrity.
So, coming back to Sivaji, do you know that a German mint has produced old medallions in remembrance of the great man? He also holds a national award from the French government.
Go get a Sivaji or Brando movie and see their passion oozing in every facial expression and muscle twitch.
I wish you passion.
