Tamil
cinema has never been short
on talent. Be it actors and
actresses or directors, musicians
and technicians, Kollywood has
always had the cream of the
crop. For decades, Tamil cinema
has welcomed and embraced film
personalities from Bollywood,
Tollywood and Mollywood. From
Ranga Rao to Rajinikanth, Anjali
Devi to Asin, Tamil cinema has
enthusiatically accepted one
and all, and has benefitted
much from this talent pool.
But if there is one thing that
Tamil cinema has to desperately
learn from Bollywood, it has
to be grooming and dressing.
One just has to sit through
a Kollywood awards function
to see how the southerners pale
in comparison to those up north
when it comes to dressing up.
I happened to attend a mega
star show in Kuala Lumpur a
couple of years ago. Vijay,
who was filming ‘Kuruvi’
in Malaysia at that time made
a cameo appearance for about
5 minutes. Considering that
he is a big star and being in
a foreign land, one would have
imagined him turning up well
dressed. Forget the tuxedo –
we don’t expect that.
But showing up on stage in a
pair of faded jeans, a crumpled
shirt, a two-day stubble and
a pair of sandals was totally
unbecoming of a major film star.
In another incident, I was watching
another awards show and a Chinese
friend was with me. When he
saw director Bala walk up the
dais to collect an award for
one of his movies (I forgot
which), my friend asked me if
Bala were a stagehand. When
I told him that he was actually
a film director, my friend laughed…in
jest. He said that no Hong Kong
star would even step out of
his house dressed like that.
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