The Hindu Business Line : A morbid malaise

TAMIL Nadu is perhaps alone among the 29 States of the Union in which a predominant number of the people, young and old, men and women, are inordinately obsessed with every minute aspect connected with movies — new releases, old box office hits, stories, songs, dances, sayings and doings of actors, and their beliefs and political leanings.

This is the only State where hundreds of mandrams (clubs) professing eternal fealty to various actors have sprouted in every city and township.

The fans are so intense in their admiration and reverence that they regard it as a matter of honour to be the first to see, at whatever cost, the first show on the first day of the release of every one of the films of their heroes, and many boast that they have been so consistent and persistent in this respect as to merit inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records.

On an impressionistic estimate, it would seem that 80 per cent of the time of non-news TV channels in Tamil Nadu is devoted to movie-related items — telecast of films, popular scenes, song and dance sequences, interviews with actors and the like. Even questions in most quiz programmes pertain to movies.

The result of all this is the skewed development of the personalities of those afflicted with this morbid malaise. All the more so because much of the fare dished out is so outlandish and unrealistic, if not so downright absurd, as to lead to stunted perspectives on events and issues.

Young students, while ignorant of the great persons of India, keep minutiae about cine actors on their finger tips. One married woman talking to an actor appearing along with the anchor in a TV programme became so excited as to chortle that she felt like embracing him then and there!

Since many political heavyweights in Tamil Nadu have been or are aficionados of the film world, and also since the fans are apt to resent even the mildest objection, thinking people — such as academics, educationists, and other eminent public figures influential in different walks of life — are wary of coming out in the open to warn against these trends.

In this background, all honour to the Pattali Makkal Katchi for its movement to wean the Tamil Nadu youth away from this debilitating craze.

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