He has captivated audiences with his natural performances on the silver screen for decades.

Entry

He had always wanted to be a painter. But because of his professor A.P. Santhanarajan's advise, he decided to take the plunge into movies.

Sivakumar's entry into films was by no means an easy one. There were endless rollings from one studio to the other and the inevitable knocking at the doors of various directors, before he actually got a chance to act.

" In our village, movies were released only during special occasions like Deepavali in the touring talkies. I bought a 25 paise tharai ticket to view films," he recounts.

For someone who had seen just 14 movies till he completed his SSLC, cinema was all but a dream. But, little did Sivakumar realise that he would actually be a part of the dream.

Debut

He made his debut in the industry with the movie `Motor Sundaranpillai'. It was S.S. Vasan, who introduced him to the industry. Among Sivakumar's most memorable hits are `Sindhu Bhairavi,' `Vandichakram,' `Ini Oru Suthanthiram,' 'Oruvar Vaazhum Aalayam', `Pournami Alaigal' and `Solla thaan Ninaikiren.'

He still vividly remembers his first shot at cinema in AVM studios. "I was given a two-line dialogue and asked to rehearse it for three days. I was wondering why so much time was being given for such a small dialogue. But, when the scene was being shot, I couldn't even speak. People started making fun of me. I broke down in front of the camera," he recalls.

He has shared the screen with greatest artists of Tamil cinema - M.G. Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan and worked with the leading film makers like K. Balachander.

Dedication

In the early days in his career Sivakumar did many things not needed in cinema. " For a song sequence, I climbed a coconut tree and got hurt. Only to be told later that I could climb using a ladder."

While playing Rajendra Chola in the movie Rajaraja Cholan (with Sivaji Ganesan in the lead), Sivakumar fell off a horse. He then decided to act again only after getting trained in horse riding and so went to the beach at 4 a.m. every day for the training.

Similarly he learnt few things about music that would help his performance as the versatile singer JKB in the movie Sindhu Bhairavi.

Approximately 750 times, he has performed in various prominent roles in dramas staged almost across all the important cities in India.

He is not only known for his versatility in acting but also for being the modest, disciplinarian, for which the entire cine world looks upon him with respect.