When they make vigilante movies, Tamil movie directors and heroes appear to be on steroids. Films made by Shankar and Atlee, among others, raise questions about everything from civic mismanagement to corruption and beyond. And the likes of Pa.Ranjith go back several centuries to question injustice. Not just in films, they do similar questioning with all the possible intensity in real life as well. The Jallikattu protests in 2016 are a case in point. The Cauvery water issue is another example when Tamil film industry folks are unmistakably vocal and vehement. (By the way, in both cases, the 'enemy' is not a Tamilian).
But when Chennai has been reeling under severe floods, the same film industry is mum. A set of commentators attribute this silence to the ruling party DMK wielding its clout over Kollywood through Red Giant Movies, a distribution company and production house owned by Udhayanidhi Stalin, the son of current TN CM MK Stalin. Red Giant is a colossus in Kollywood, distributing and co-producing big-ticket movies like 'Leo' and 'Indian 2'.
Since DMK is the ruling party, no Tamil film celeb dares to say anything. So far, 'Kalki 2898 AD' music director Santhosh Narayanan is among the one or two Kollywoodians who has raised a voice. And, he too, has done it using neutral language without questioning the gross negligence exhibited by the ruling party.
