Polar Opposites?

April 14^th, the Tamil New Year approaches and tamilians all over the globe are all a twitter. No, it is not in anticipation of the traditional avial and vada, but because two eagerly anticipated movies will be released. In their own manner, people all over the internet have engaged in pre-release hysteria, from nostalgic remembrances to mindless slandering. Music reviews, movie previews, personality traits, box office collections, the colour of the undergarments worn, all are the exhibits declared to the junta. Okay, the last one was made up but I am sure if it was the topic people would debate the functionality and effectiveness of the striped boxer underwear to the vip frenchie and somehow connect it to why one person is better than the other. What is this mass hysteria all about? It is about two individuals. Who are these two individuals? Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. So what is special about these two that warrants such human behaviour? Here goes.

Both of these above mentioned individuals are famous actors in Tamil Cinema. They have been in the industry for almost 3 decades and have been ruling the roost for two of those. On one corner we have Kamal Haasan, the Super Actor, who has been undeniably acclaimed an actor par excellence. He has lived most of his life within this industry and from the looks of it, cinema is his life. He also is an astute person, well read and knowledgeable about a myriad of topics, an achievement for a high school dropout when compared to the ignorance of many well educated human beings. I could go on about him, but a lot of it has been well documented before and therefore, to avoid redundancy, I will refrain myself from going forward. On the other corner is Rajinikanth, the Super Star, who has been undeniably, acclaimed a mass entertainer beyond doubt. He came into this industry from nowhere and rose through the ranks to be where he is now. While cinema has been his daily bread and butter, spirituality holds more interest to him and has long been known to want to further his spiritual self. Again, a lot has been documented about him and so I will not repeat likewise. With this brief introduction, let us move onto the crux of the matter.

Despite the route they traversed within the Tamil cinema field, both have landed at the top of the rung, with each pitted against each other. One was touted to be the class actor and the other was a mass actor. One was acclaimed for his creative attempts to push the envelope of Indian cinema while the other was praised for his simple attempts at keeping the Indian cinema aficionados entertained. As their tenure increased, so did the intense rivalry between their fans. There was a time when the lines of division were set in stone and each side was clearly demarcated both in their offense and defense. As the years went by, with each of the main players choosing different paths, the rivalry still seems to be just as strong. And that is an inexplicable part of the Indian psyche, especially that of a Tamilian. There was, is and never will be any common ground when it comes to this issue. But how did an ordinary competition end up so intense and why has that not transcended to the current crop of actors?

The answer is simple. Both these individuals were painted as polar opposites of each other. And it did help that the individuals themselves seemed a perfect fit to the image generated by the common man. Leaving aside the craft and their intrinsic talent, their movies were first divided on basis of the end user that their product was aimed at. Despite, Kamal Haasan having a numerous string of movies that catered to the mass population, predominantly his movies has always attracted the hoi polloi or city slickers. Rajinikanth on the other hand seemed to attract more of the masses and that has been his strength till date. And from that basic separation is derived the Super Actor and Super Star tag, for it clearly identified one with the craft and the other with the mass adulation. Then the separation was made on the actual personality differences and character traits. The former was outspoken and unapologetic despite it being portrayed as an aura of elitism that has been construed as snobbery and arrogance. He lived his life to the fullest and was known to be a ladies man and has consistently seen his share of trials and tribulations in his personal life. The latter was more guarded in his speech and thought process and his projected personality was more of a humble, modest person who went the family way for most of his life. This difference again drove the wedge further between the fans, many of whom would never hesitate to play this card when an argument between the two flares up. Finally, the chasm widened when the movies that they made was so far apart from each other, that it cemented the cherry on top of all arguments. That cherry being, the former is trying to elevate Indian cinema to higher levels while the former is grinding the same flour again, if you ask the fans of the former. While the fans of the latter, would belittle any failed experiments while touting the same ground masala as time pass entertainment. This argument can never be settled for each side will play their cards over and over again like a stuck record. Additional argument cards have been more of selective amnesia and hypocritical attitudes of the people who revel in the same genre, the same opening song and mannerisms and punch dialogues of the latter while relishing any experimental failures of the latter denouncing it as an intellectual crime while belittling the same masala of the former as unacceptable fare. The former can never win in anyway in these people’s eyes while the latter can only win in one way in their eyes too.

But if you look at it from a purely objective perspective, there is no denying that when it comes to the actual craft, leaving aside all external factors, the former definitely possesses a far superior repertoire as compared to the latter. When it comes to their personality, the former is akin to the liberal left while the latter straddles the middle line between the left and the right. This is evident in their movies too, where the movies of the former refuse to be constrained within ethical and moral boundaries, while the latter does sermon the importance of values in most of his movies. But then again, are they really the polar opposites? I do not believe so. Most of these are media portrayed. But individually, both of them do same similar traits.

In terms of their business acumen, both are astute businessmen, who have sought out new avenues to further their personal revenues. Both of them take distribution rights in addition to their salary and are consistently the highest paid actors in the field. Both are comfortable with a select set of directors, who can work with them without meddling too much in how they believe the movie should shape out to be. If the former has had a lot of publicized fallouts with people within the industry, the latter has his own share of problems with others, but on a less publicized scale. Both have considerable muscle in the industry, which they flex on a regular basis to keep others in check. Both also recognize the strength of their fan base and ensure that they cater to their needs to keep them as energized as possible. However, they do differ in what they believe is good cinema and their individual approach to the same. The former has been consistent in his efforts to push the boundaries of acceptable cinema and bridge the enormous gap between commercial and art cinema. Even if it is the same flour, he keeps experimenting with new spices to hopefully achieve a new taste. The latter still believes in the same taste and commercial cinema is his only aim. If he can deliver that, he is content.

In terms of their personality there are still similarities. Both have been ladies men and while the former keeps getting attention drawn to the same, the latter has his own closet of skeletons, which no one dare mention for his image is that of a family man. The former is strong in his beliefs and convictions and believes no one can judge him behind the screen. The latter shares a similar approach and his personal life is off boundaries to anyone until he decides to share it. The value system of the former has always been questioned, and critics always bandy it around like it is the last nail in his coffin but that coffin lid can never be shut for the a lot of Indians seem to be sharing the same value system nowadays as he does. The latter escaped the spotlight on his values system, but to me it is still suspect because his speech and actions have not matched many a time. The former is accused of arrogance time and time again as opposed to the humble latter, but in my eyes, any person who could go on television and exclaim that if the people of a state don’t vote the way he thinks he should that even God won’t be able to save them is in no way modest. On the contrary, one must possess a higher level of perceived self esteem to be able to even contemplate the same. On the flip side, self confidence is always threatening to other insecure human beings, and many a time it is this self-confidence that borders on the line of arrogance that gets misplaced as absolute arrogance. Both have leveraged their position for charity and the former does it on a continuous basis. How they shape their fan clubs is a different matter, for the former wants to shape his fan club as a social organization while the fan club of the latter is just that. Also, the former has the temerity of a survivor with each failure not deterring his passion for experimenting with good cinema, while the latter prefers to get back to basics with each failure to comply with the wishes of his fan base.

The current crop of actors will never see such an intense rivalry for there are no perceived polar opposites. Each works the same formulas, the same style of songs, attacking opponents via dialogues. There is no discerning difference in the end products as opposed to these two, for the movies of both the former and latter were different in all aspects, from dialogues, to songs, to lyrics to costumes, production etc. They carried their movies and to a large extent that is why they decimated the competition and were the two leading men of the industry for so long. Successors came and went, but they stood firm. The current crop of actors does not have that base of stability for the field seems to be over crowded and leveled, which was unthinkable of earlier.

In terms of each other, no matter what differences they may have had in the past, behind the screen stories indicate that they remain good friends with the latter even offering to mediate in the failed marriage of the former recently. Each of them is supposed to consult with each other on issues that are common to both of them especially pertaining to the industry. Any event, any stage, if you see their appearance, it is the same for they have long exceeded their game of one-upmanship. They have long stopped targeting each other and moved forward at focusing on their careers alone. Now that their paths are so divergent, they have stopped being competitors for truly in the real sense of the word, they are not competitors. Each is making products for different users and while the fans make it seem otherwise, that is the truth. Everything is but a matter of perception, and that false perception is why people who really have no authority in the movie making field are the ones debating fiercely on who is better than whom. To each his or her own tablet of pleasure and my own is that there is a reason one is called the super actor and that is all that matters.