Accepting the felicitations of the film industry for his 75th birthday and 52 years of service to the industry, he said the subject would be included as it was an art form. ``Director Balu Mahendra's suggestion is well taken, and probably children would be motivated to go to school if such a subject were introduced,'' he added in a lighter vein.

The chief minister sat through the six hours gala event, which began with spectacular song and dance sequences and meandered towards an highly emotional speech by the president of the function and Thespian Sivaji Ganesan. The two longtime friends, whose association goes beyond Parasakthi and Manohara, embraced and broke down on stage immediately after the felicitation speech by Sivaji. With tears running down his cheeks the chief minister was led tothe podium by a sobbing Prabhu, Sivaji's son and actor. Karunanidhi then continued from where Sivaji left off and recounted their days together.

Taking a potshot at those who went to court against using the Nehru outdoor stadium as venue for the event, he heartily thanked them for forcing the shift in venue, since the rains would not have allowed the function if the earlier plan had been adhered to.

It may be recalled that AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha had moved the Supreme Court seeking a ban on organising such a function in a stadium meant for sports events. The SC had severely curtailed the usage of space. The chief minister had appealed to the organisers to put off the function but accepted after the Film Producers Council prevailed over him and shifted the venue to the indoor stadium.

Referring to the recent film industry crisis, he said more than the gifts endowed on him, it was the sight of the entire film fraternity standing united that pleased him most.

The chief minister was presented with a5 ft high silver statue of himself, a 52 sovereign gold chain and Rs 52 lakh towards the CM's Relief Fund.

A galaxy of stars and leaders present at the function paid rich encomiums to the chief minister.

Karnataka Chief Minister J H Patel, Pondicherry Chief Minister R V Janakiraman, Karnataka minister and actor Anant Nag, directors K Balachander, Bharathiraja, Manirathnam, Producers S.P. Muthuraman and AVM Saravanan, actors Rajnikanth, Kamalhassan, Sarath Kumar, Vijayakanth, Sivakumar, actresses Meena, Urvashi were among those who spoke.