With actor Vijay all set to become the CM of Tamil Nadu, many from the film industry have tried to arouse the sentiment that artists hold the prowess to script change. "MGR garu in Tamil Nadu and my father NTR garu in Andhra Pradesh proved that actors, if they show resolve, can rewrite history," Nandamuri Balakrishna shared on Monday, congratulating the Tamil superstar.
The narrative is based in factual history. However, should we really be proud of this reality and emotionalize the rise of Vijay? The kind of movies that the current lot of actors do is hardly inspired. They are least interested in doing risky movies that touch upon difficult social and hard political themes. Take Vijay, for example. The movies he has done in the last five years are safe and run-of-the-mill: Beast, Master, Varisu, Leo, and The GOAT. He chose to work with filmmakers like Lokesh Kanagaraj and Nelson because they are among the best in the industry. Sarkar was an exception, but it didn't toy with any hard themes. It was a typical AR Murugadoss brain rot.
Even after entering politics, Pawan Kalyan acted in ridiculous commercial movies like Katamarayudu, Sardaar Gabbar Singh, and Agnyaathavaasi. Films like OG and Ustaad Bhagat Singh are stuff he did just for money (nothing wrong, but he did only such movies and nothing else - no thought-provoking documentaries or short films). Why should anyone celebrate the phenomenon of actors "rewriting history" in such a scenario?
Balakrishna himself has been doing out-and-out commercial movies despite being a three-time MLA himself. He doesn't even pretend to bother about society even in his speeches. Why should we join him to cheer for actor-politicians like him? Let's not join the party they are so proud of.
