Is Dhanush Vulnerable ?

Manmatha Rasa Dhanush‘s hatrick with Thiruda Thirudi is creating rockers all over. I haven’t yet watched Thiruda Thirudi but I am amazed by the way The Hindu praised him in their review. As he has lined up the next twelve new movies back to back, he has more responsibilities to shoulder. The most important is how he chooses his stories in the movies to come. One movie down and he will be yet another nine-hour newcomer.

Choosing roles and stories when are you in the pinnacle seems to be the toughest task in Kollywood. Especially when producers are hungry for superhits and silver jubliees. If you look back in the history of kollywood, there are more such disasters.

Kamalhassan for example started choosing his roles after some time of his career. When he chose to act in the Sigappu Rojakkal and Raja Paarvai(was his own production), he was completely differentiating himself from his contemporaries. Along came the AVM banner. He signed up to act in AVM’s Sakalakala Vallavan. Sakalakala Vallavan was a simple yet sure-shot-success story. With enough masala items to add like that silk smitha song and the path breaking Illamai Itho song, it was a super dooper hit. 175 days. Happy. Very Happy. But what happened to the Kamalhassan. He was lost in that masala items that it completely changed the history of Tamil cinema. Atleast for the next 25 to 30 films he was roped for such silly scripts and the path breaking actor’s path was broken. With the smell of success that Sakalakala Vallavan gave, he was forced in such movies again. He quoted in an interview that it was the toughest job to break away from that clout of masala roles. His wait extended till Chippikkul Muthu which tore away the romantic boy face mask.

Even the Super Star Rajinikanth was in that loop but he chose his way to be a people’s actor and he was successful. After watching Mahendran’s Mullum Malarum and Johnny, I am sure that we lost one of the greatest actors of all times and boxed him to a black box as a super star.

You might not agree with me as I quote examples which are decades old. But I have a recent example of Vikram. With Vikram coming to the limelight in Sethu and Kasi, he was called as an heir to Kamalhassan. Incidentally, he was hailed from Kamalhassan’s native Paramakudi. And yes, became a heir to Kamal. The same AVM roped Vikram for Gemini and here he is. Followed by King, Samurai, Dhool and Sami, SHOW ME VIKRAM. SHOW ME WHERE HE IS!!. The O! Podu magic is still working out. It’s good to see Vikram raising up to reach the top. But at the same time it worries to have lost a great actor amidst all these hungama of masala movies. Though Vikram does justice to his movies by his versatile performances, he has better caliber than used. Vikram is awaiting his break through Bala’s Pitha Mahan. I am not sure if Pitha Mahan would fulfill Vikram’s dreams of breaking the masala mask. But let’s just hope it does.

AVM as a production company has been a pioneer of great film experiments. They were the ones who brought cinema to the masses but this side of AVM is certainly disappointing. Though these may not be voluntary actions, the repurcussions last much longer.

Though Dhanush is still young and naive, he can afford to act as the romantic boy for the next 25 movies. But times are changing. Staying as a super star for decades are history. People who reach to the top, skate down with the same speed. Hence to stay ahead in the race, every movie becomes an acid test. If Dhanush falls a prey for the hype and the virtual animosity that media is creating between him and Simbhu, he’ll be out. All we could wish and hope is a great career for this kid.