Before I start on this, I'd like to register that this post is definitely not intended to hurt any star or their fans. This is just a request from a true cinema fan to two of the most important top stars of Kollywood.
Thala...Thalapathy... Can someone pass a day without hearing the names of these two? Are you a school student? Are you a college student? Are you a working professional? Whoever you maybe, somehow or the other you get to hear their name at least once. And in the same gang, you will find a Thala fan and a Thalapathy fan. If it was Rajini and Kamal for the 80s and 90s teens, it is Vijay and Ajith for this generation. When these both have that level of prominence in the Tamil Cinema and in the hearts of Tamil cinema audience, they do have much more added responsibilities, I feel.
When we talk about both the stars, the first thing that comes to our mind is MASS. Right? Agreed? Their mass and screen presence are something phenomenal. Apart from that? KING OF OPENING. Assured is the successful box office opening if the film stars Vijay or Ajith. The duo has a crowd-pulling power, which also helps to influence the mindset of the audience. When that is the case, I feel that just mass commercial entertainers from them are not enough. Of course, they have attained a star level status and they have to do paisa vasool entertainers, but at least once in a while, maybe once in three films, they could opt to do a socially responsible entertainer.
If someone says, “If Vijay or Ajith do socially responsible films, it wouldn't be mass enough or it wouldn't be a commercial success", my best example would be KATHTHI. It was very strong on content and the script didn't depend on any kuthu numbers or punch dialogues. Everything was in sync with the core plot of the film. The script, instead of depending on Vijay, brought out the actor inside him, I'd say. Happened to see Vijay the performer in the film.
Kaththi was a socially responsible film. It talked about the plight of farmers in today's modern age. Though farmers suicide and problems kept coming in the newspapers, only after the release of Kaththi, a wider range of audience got to know about it. The film also talked about the domination of multinational companies in an agricultural state like Tamil Nadu. The film reached out to a very large number of the audience mainly because of the star value. Not to offend, but there is a film called Kathukutti, which also talked about the plight of farmers. But how many would've seen that film? Or how many even know about that film? And regarding the commercial success of Kaththi, can someone have any second thoughts about it? The film kept the box office ringing and went on to collect 100 crores in a span of 12 days.
I am not a fanboy of any star, but I seriously loved the performance of Vijay in Kaththi. I wish he does more films like that. When top stars like him do so, the audience get to know about some current relevant issues. They represent the society. A hero in a film represents an individual of the society and when he happens to work for the welfare of the society, it definitely influences youngsters to be that way.
Once Rajini advised his fans to quit smoking (after narrating some of his real life experiences) and quite a large number of people are believed to have changed so. That is the level of importance stars have in our society. So it would be great to see Vijay or Ajith star in some socially responsible films once in a while.
I envy when, Bollywood superstar SRK has starred in films like Swades, Chak De India, My Name Is Khan, which talked about some social concerning issues, that was never less on entertainment. Aamir Khan too had films like Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par, 3 Idiots and PK coming in regular intervals. Malayalam stars also have likewise. But I wish there are more number of Tamil films that are socially concerning and entertaining as well, starring top stars.
Take the case of the recently released Aandavan Kattalai. The film talked about the after effects one can face, after getting a fake passport. The film conveyed a socially relevant message in a light-hearted manner. "If we are going to talk about a social issue, the film will be very less on entertainment" is just a mere misconception.
During an interview with Behindwoods, when asked about his favorite genre that he'd like to try, Manikandan said, "I want to try my hands in all types of genres, but I would like to do a complete action film laced with some realistic humor in it." Wouldn't it be exciting to see Ajith or Vijay star in that film? It would be a welcome change over for both the stars.
We all know that cinema as a visual medium has enormous power to influence the attitude of people. Maybe not just top stars, every actor could concentrate more on selecting their scripts and act accordingly. We grew up watching their films. So, once in a while, if they decide to do a socially responsible film, for sure, the respect for them would be on a rise. I feel they could be more responsible and come out to do more films like that.
Behindwoods is not responsible for the views of columnists.
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