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Radha Ravi extolled the stars for turning
up in full even though many were not even
in Tamil Nadu, busy with shooting schedules.
He said Trisha, Nayanthara, Vikram and many
others had to come a long way to attend
the fast.
Ajith, dressed in black, looked weary, and
even bored. He sat with his head in his
hands, often looking around vacantly. Kamal
was like a rock, betraying nothing. Rajini
was his easy self, smiling occasionally,
even agreeing with some speakers visibly
by nodding his head. Vijay looked partly
interested, and sat very quietly, with his
arms folded – which is typical for
him in functions. Vikram was comfortable,
and was seen in a cap.
Radha Ravi broke into a fiery speech about
why holding a fast in Chennai is equally
important and effective as one in Rameshwaram.
He also chided the government for rapping
the Tamil cinema fraternity for what had
been said over the Sri Lankan issue. His
argument was: do we actors and cinema people
not know politics? Was not MGR an actor?
Is not Karunanidhi a scriptwriter? In other
words, he was saying that the cinema fraternity
knows the complexity of the issue at hand
and will not speak out irresponsibly or
naively. He finished by inviting Ajith to
address the gathering.
After being received with a tremendous
applause, Ajith said a few strong words.
He began with the ‘Udal mannukku,
uyir Thamizhukku’ which seemed to
have a great effect on everyone. He also
said that not explicitly stating one’s
thoughts did not mean that one does not
care about a particular issue. He was as
concerned about the welfare of Tamils as
anyone. He also had a go at a few publications
that carried false reports about him and
requested them to not mix cinema with other
issues.
Right after Ajith, Vijay was welcomed with
another rousing applause. Citing that the
struggling Tamils of Sri Lanka had now been
for years without the basic necessities
of life and that the film fraternity was
now showing their solidarity by observing
this fast. He made a call to all his fans
and people who cared about their struggling
brothers to send petitions to the Prime
Minister of India demanding a solution to
the issue. He hoped that the number of petitions
would not fall short of a crore.
Then, it was Kamal’s turn. He chose
to differ from Radha Ravi’s thought
that emotions should be kept in check while
raising an issue. He said that if the issue
was one that really hurt us deeply, then
emotions would invariably flow. It is because
of this that two fellow directors had to
wear a crown of thorns and go jail. But
now, they have returned to a reception of
garlands. He also said that the response
and protests to the struggles of Tamils
must not be seen as a regional one and that
he would raise his voice wherever people
were in trouble.
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