Vijay and the Art of Becoming a Movie Star

You can become a Tamil Superstar! Yes, You! Here’s how Ilayathalapathy (Little Chief) Vijay did it. (it’s his B’day)

In about 25 years, Vijay has acted in....

Oh, sorry. Let me begin again.

Ilayathalapathi (young general/little chief) Vijay has starred in over 50 films in less than 25 years. As the actor with the ‘happy feet’ turns 42, here’s a look at what it takes to become a star in Tamil cinema.

Tha Gentilman (Spelling Changed to Match Pronunciation)

Tamil film stars (Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan, Ajith Kumar, Vijay, Surya) typically maintain low public profiles and surround themselves with an aura of ‘goodness’. Ajith’s fans call him ‘Thala’ (Head), but he’s refused to put a title (‘Ultimate Star’, which is what his fans used to call him) next to his name in his movies for a few years now. Rajinikanth banned himself from smoking or drinking in his movies and radiates a ‘devout’ persona. Kamal Hassan is a man of the people and often speaks on social issues, occasionally with a foot in his mouth.

Vijay urges his fans to use their time doing social work and helping the poor. They praise him for his heart and heartily ignore him, as they pour milk over his cutouts.

North Indian Fair-and-Lovely Heroine

If you’re not from Tamil Nadu or Andhra, you wouldn’t understand the HUGENESS of this phenomenon. Allow me to illustrate. Here are the TOP heroines in Tamil cinema over the last three decades:

Khushboo - Punjabi: We built a temple for her

Simran (and her sister Monal) - Punjabi: No temple, but she ruled the silver screen for over a decade.

Jyothika (and her half sister Nagma) - Mumbaikars: Shared the top spot with Simran for eleven years, before she retired after her marriage to Suriya. Came back to critical acclaim and box office hit in 2015.

Then there’s Hansika Motwani, Tamannah, Shriya Saran, Shilpa Shetty, Priyanka Chopra, Sushmita Sen, Lara Dutta, Yukta Mookhey and anyone else who won a beauty pageant or is from the north of the Vindhyas.

There are very few heroines in Tamil cinema today who can actually speak, or even understand Tamil. The Tamil cinema audience has a fetish for female North Indian faces, to put it mildly.

Here’s a song that features Priyanka Chopra in her debut movie, sung by the stars themselves. Priyanka is just one among many Bollywood heroines who acted and sometimes debuted beside Vijay.

Squeeeeeeze the Emotion

This is a big deal in Tamil cinema. Actually this was THE deal across Indian cinema in the 90s and early 2000s.

Family drama. Climax scene. Husband realises his folly and is about to apologise to wife. Villain enters. Fight begins. Wife goes into labour. Last villainous blow either to husband’s head or to wife’s stomach or to both. Blood (husband’s) everywhere and yet he puts wife onto a hand-cart and rushes her to the hospital. Husband gives blood to wife. Baby cries. Both wake up and smile tearily.

In Tamil cinema, the one sentiment that still survives to date untouched, is the sister sentiment. And this is something that Vijay cashes in on in all of his movies.

Do Bad Movies in the Beginning (Optional Tadka)

The earth saw a total of 24 mass extinctions before man and mammals finally made their appearance.

What I intend to convey from this random but completely awesome fact, is that it’s sometimes good to give a series of flops in the beginning, before giving a hit. It also helps if you look like a direct descendant of cavemen initially, before the make-up fairy scrubs out the oil and plucks out almost all of the facial hair.

Here’s a sample. WATCH THE ENTIRE SONG!!!
aapko meri kasam!

Do Comedy & Dance Like Crazy

Surprisingly, the one thing that makes a star a superstar, is great comic timing. Even some of Kamal Hassan’s biggest hits were predominantly laugh riots (Appu Raja, Chachi 420, Panchatantram). Rajini too, endeared himself to the audience because he could take a laugh at his own expense.

Both these biggies aren’t great dancers (I mean, Kamal is great at classical, but his contemporary/cinema style looks like a Jane Fonda exercise video). But they have a unique style, which sells.

Vijay’s comedy appeals to pre-teens and middle-aged audiences. But when it comes to dance, he’s BOSS!

Not every Tamil hero who’s gone through these paces is a superstar. But every Tamil Superstar has been through them.

Vijay is on to his 60th movie, as he turns 42 today. Will his fans continue to pour milk on his cutouts when he turns 60? Only time will tell.

(Vikram Venkateswaran is a freelance writer, TV producer and media consultant. Headings, titles and captions are his kryptonite. He just moved to Chennai and hopes the city likes him and is nice to him.)