Mersal vs Vivegam: Battle between Vijay, Ajith fans illuminates power of Kollywood fandom
Why are Tamil cinema's known as Kollywood ..
superstars always portrayed on screen as larger-than-life?
Why is it that they will not move away from the comfort of mass-masala commercial entertainers and explore new genres?
Why is it that when these stars become successful at the box-office, their advisors say they will enter Tamil Nadu’s murky politics soon?
The answer to all these questions is blowing in the wind. From time immemorial, Tamil superstars have been trying to cash in on the fans surrounding their screen image.
Today Mersal is a blockbuster; people may say this is due to the controversies surrounding the film, but it is also largely due to its charismatic hero Ilayathalapathy Vijay, who has a huge fan base across the globe.
In a state like Tamil Nadu, where films have paved a path to a successful career in politics
— think MGR, Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa — the current crop of superstars too believe they can achieve a smooth cross over.
This is a state where fans are seen as potential voters — a ‘vote bank’ which must be cultivated for future electoral success. Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan are making waves — even as they make the traditional political parties distinctly uncomfortable — thanks to their large fan base, spread across the state.
Over the years, Rajinikanth has made sly political remarks in his films, while Kamal Haasan, in the last six months, has openly stepped into Tamil Nadu’s political.
This also creates a turf war between rival actors and their fan clubs. For the last few years, there has been an acrimonious and bitter fan war going on between Vijay and Ajith fans over who is the bigger box office star. The war between Thala (Ajith) and Ilayathalapathy's fans has spilled over online, and on social media.
Fans of these actors go berserk when the first look, audio or trailer of their 'hero's' film is released. They try their hardest to create trending hash tags of record YouTube views — all for the superstar. Soon, rival fan clubs start posting memes and contesting the claims made by the star's fans. Recently it was reported that a Tamil piracy website got an offer from unnamed parties to 'leak' a big budget film, on the day of its release!
Now the biggest spat between Ajith and Vijay fans is over the box-office collections of Vivegam and Mersal,respectively.
superstars always portrayed on screen as larger-than-life?
Why is it that they will not move away from the comfort of mass-masala commercial entertainers and explore new genres?
Why is it that when these stars become successful at the box-office, their advisors say they will enter Tamil Nadu’s murky politics soon?
The answer to all these questions is blowing in the wind. From time immemorial, Tamil superstars have been trying to cash in on the fans surrounding their screen image.
Today Mersal is a blockbuster; people may say this is due to the controversies surrounding the film, but it is also largely due to its charismatic hero Ilayathalapathy Vijay, who has a huge fan base across the globe.
In a state like Tamil Nadu, where films have paved a path to a successful career in politics
— think MGR, Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa — the current crop of superstars too believe they can achieve a smooth cross over.
This is a state where fans are seen as potential voters — a ‘vote bank’ which must be cultivated for future electoral success. Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan are making waves — even as they make the traditional political parties distinctly uncomfortable — thanks to their large fan base, spread across the state.
Over the years, Rajinikanth has made sly political remarks in his films, while Kamal Haasan, in the last six months, has openly stepped into Tamil Nadu’s political.
This also creates a turf war between rival actors and their fan clubs. For the last few years, there has been an acrimonious and bitter fan war going on between Vijay and Ajith fans over who is the bigger box office star. The war between Thala (Ajith) and Ilayathalapathy's fans has spilled over online, and on social media.
Fans of these actors go berserk when the first look, audio or trailer of their 'hero's' film is released. They try their hardest to create trending hash tags of record YouTube views — all for the superstar. Soon, rival fan clubs start posting memes and contesting the claims made by the star's fans. Recently it was reported that a Tamil piracy website got an offer from unnamed parties to 'leak' a big budget film, on the day of its release!
Now the biggest spat between Ajith and Vijay fans is over the box-office collections of Vivegam and Mersal,respectively.
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