Three film personalities passed away this year, all stalwarts in their respective domains - Bollywood's gentleman actor Sunil Dutt, the king of romance in Tamil films, Gemini Ganesan, and director Ismail Merchant of the famous Ivory-Merchant duo and MIP films.

Sunil Dutt (June 1930 - May 2005): Actor-filmmaker-activist-politician Sunil Dutt's demise a week shy of his 75th birthday robbed nation's cinema and its public life of a stellar personality. He sought - and surmounted -- challenges all his life. In an acting career that spanned all of five decades, Duttsaab, as he was fondly called, demonstrated his talent in 100-odd films made by some of India's greatest directors -- Mehboob B.R. Chopra, Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Tapan Sinha, Raj Khosla and Yash Chopra, among others. Sunil Dutt was last seen in the role of the protagonist's father in the Sanjay Dutt-starrer, Munnabhai M.B.B.S. He was due to reprise the role in the film's sequel, Munnabhai Meets Mahatma Gandhi. The under-production venture has lost one of its lynchpins.
Gemini Ganesan Gemini Ganesan ( November 1930 - March 2005): He was one of the "Big Three" of Tamil cinema of yesteryear, the other two being late MG Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan. But unlike the other two, he kept away from politics, though he was friendly with many of the top leaders. Fondly known as "Kadal Mannan" (King of romance), Ganesan had acted in several box-office hits during his heydays between 1950 and 1970 and paired with then top heroines such as Savithri, whom he later married, Saroja Devi, former Rajya Sabha member Vaijayanthi Mala, "Sowkar" Janaki and Devika. Prominent among his hit films are Vanjikottai Valiban, Kalyana Parisu, Missiamma, Pasamalar, Panama Pasama and Iru Kodugal.
Ismail Merchant (December 1936 - May 2005): In a career lasting over four decades, he proffered a goldmine of universal stories that are destined to survive the ravages of time. Two things made Merchant special. One, filmmaking and feasting were two sides of the same coin for the man who would make movies designed like sumptuous gastronomic spreads and rustle up meals during shoots with the flair and passion of a full-time chef. And two, he had a way with funding agencies. He would raise finances for his projects without losing much sweat. It was 30 years after MIP made its first film that Merchant made his debut as a director with In Custody, based on a novel by Anita Desai and shot in Bhopal. It was as good a film as any that the company had ever produced. The V.S. Naipaul adaptation, The Mystic Masseur, and Cotton Mary, based on a play by Alexandra Viets, were among the other films that Merchant directed. At the time of his death, Merchant was working on The Goddess, with Tina Turner playing a personification of Shakti, the embodiment of female energy.