Popularly known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, was an Indian actor and producer, who was most active in Tamil cinema, and has also worked in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. He was the first Indian to be honoured with the Best Actor award in an International film festival. One of the first superstars of South Indian cinema, Sivaji Ganesan is said to have inspired many leading actors in the South Indian film industry. He started his acting career with the commercially successful 1952 Tamil film Parasakthi. In Bollywood, he made a guest appearance in the 1959 film School Master, and has acted in the 1970 action drama Dharti, starring Rajendra Kumar and Waheeda Rehman.