Under the sun

Saturday, June 30, 2007

In Defense Of Fanaticism, Veri, Bhakthi etc...

The recent weeks have seen a lot of posts by bloggers concerned, irritated and baffled at the extent of 'fanaticism' exhibited by Tamilians. The release of Sivaji signalled the conglomeration of all real Rajni fanatics and also other wannabe fanatics who have no idea of either fanaticism, TN or Tamil films before 2004. While i salute the former, i have nothing but contempt and condescension for the latter wannabe heroes and heroines. Fanaticism, unlike what many bloggers and North Indies journalists believe, is not the sole domain of Rajini fans. They weren't the first, they won't be the last and they certainly cannot claim to be the 'best' in that category, going by the parameters of hardcore fanaticism. TN is not alone when it comes to fanboyism. Our Telugu manavadu have more theaters and its not a surprising sight to find many of them going to watch a film without even brushing their teeth. Coming back to TN, we know how it works - hero worship, politics, icon obsession etc. Its part of our "culture" (whatever crap that means). It has always existed and has been part of our lives. Infact, many of the wannabes have always been in awe of these real mad fanboys.

This being the context, why should we react any differently now? What did the real rasiga kodigal do wrong this time? Why do their activities evoke disgust? The trouble is, the real culprits are not the fanboys themselves but the blood sucking, unprofessional group of grown up jokers representing the media. Its the media which propagates myths and lores which sinks in easily in the minds of the gullible wannabes. The stifling hype and coverage reeks of a complete lack of perspective and screwed up priorities. Yes, it sells but then we know whom to blame now. NDTV, IBN etc don't know shit about TN or TN cinema. They just echo the myths propagated by the local media and their local correspondents (who again are merely echo chambers). They wouldn't have seen or heard about DCR, MG, FH etc in their lives and yet they would run a story on Vijay being the biggest BO draw after Rajnikanth. Among the insignificant but true details echoed by the media on Sivaji, a lot of lies were also propagated by the media (vernacular, national and international). Just because of the widespread and relentless coverage shown by these parties, TOI and Behindwoods gained credence and became benchmarks for information accuracy. Myths were taken for granted by people who were otherwise keen critics of typos and other harmless mistakes in leading newspapers. All thanks to our media, who fuel the multiplex wannabe crowd, who again fuel the media.

According to them, fanatics = Rajni fans. If you observe, you can see that the real fanatic is illogical, but generally consistent. You can understand what he looks for and what he likes and what he does not. It is the elitist, urban wannabe kind that comes up with hate comments in blogs which commit the cardinal sin of rightly calling Sivaji a crapfest.

It is the same wannabe who resorts to world cinema names-dropping to counter arguments against his/her Thalaivar. Real fanatics who do 'andhar' in theaters don't disturb you. OK, you don't get to hear the dialogues in theatres but that should be fun even for the most hard-nosed kind. They live their lives and do their thing. Its a passion for them. Just like we can't justify many of our passions, they can't explain this to somebody who doesn't understand the context, somebody who hasn't experienced it. They don't use internet. Its the wannabe proliferation in the internet, multiplexes and Bay Area theaters and the conglomeration of the dumbing down media pigs which sickens and disgusts.

NDTV-um internet links-um paarthu valarndha balagInamAna koottam.

Fan-a potta odane summa kulirudhu illa....

14 Comments:

  • //Fan-a potta odane summa kulirudhu illa....
    //- ROTFL! :-D
    -viji

    By Blogger Viji, at Mon Jul 02, 11:29:00 AM  

  • correction: Kamal Fan-a potta odane summa kulirudhu illa
    :-D

    TPSK

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at Mon Jul 02, 11:33:00 AM  

  • // Till then, listen to "Annathe Aaduraar", Thevar Magan Intro or "Karkka Karkka". //

    :)

    athu enna eppavumae oru "sooner or later" :(

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at Mon Jul 02, 06:28:00 PM  

  • Fan poatta summa parakadhulla
    current pona summa eriyudhulla
    sambar summa thithikudhulla
    thiruvizhaala puLLai tholayudhulla
    meeting la irukkacha mudhuga summa arikkudhulla

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at Tue Jul 03, 02:16:00 PM  

  • Looking forward to it .. :-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at Tue Jul 03, 11:34:00 PM  

  • Bala

    that is what we can do till Dasa release

    Rajkumar

    By Blogger Raj, at Wed Jul 04, 07:47:00 PM  

  • Viji,
    pinjuleye punj dialaak family my family

    Thilak,
    Subject to multiple interpretations! :p

    Selva,
    enna ippadi kettupteenga? Office la boss velai eppo mudiyum nu kettale naan indha badhil dhaan solluven

    Ferrari,
    LOL, especially sambar summa thithikudhulla - spoken like a true Bangalore thamizhan :)

    Roshan,
    :)

    Rajkumar_mj(?),
    enna ippadi solliteenga? neraya velai irukku. Namma Thalabadhy Raj thambi has already started the "activities"...

    By Blogger Bala (Karthik), at Thu Jul 05, 08:05:00 AM  

  • trailer paatha odana summa komattudhulla... ;-)
    -viji

    By Blogger Viji, at Thu Jul 05, 10:27:00 AM  

  • Wow, now my earlier post has 'multiple' interpretations (now that you 'defended' the koottam). While I salute hardcore fans who 'support' him for the good things. I can't accept the chauvinistic yet precarious behavioral trait.

    Defending 'TR' is much different from defending Nadigar thilagam. In 'reality', Rajini is somewhere in between, although his seniority and familiarity has elevated him to demi-god status. He doesn't deserve the hype for what he is 'doing now', I would defend him for his old films. But definitely not satirical 'entertainment' through Jilebi, kodumaiyapa, or such stuff. Talk about his '6irul irundu 60 varai', 'thillu mullu' or 'Johnny' - I would agree! For a guy who is a mere businessman selling same 'substandard' shit for a long long time, sorry, he deserves all the *bashing*. So, let the 'fanatics'(real or wannabe) take it on the chin.

    BTW, Would you defend this 'pal abhishegam'(by any fan), 'mann soru', 'kavadi rituals', 'sacrifice' (slaughtering goats and stuff in theatres'), etc

    Did you check out the kumudam interview with Nazar(nasser)? Ravi 'mokkai mama' bernard touches upon TN fans and Thamizh cinema :-) (I guess you would have seen J.M's already interview by now)
    -TPSK

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at Thu Jul 05, 10:57:00 AM  

  • "NDTV-um internet links-um paarthu valarndha balagInamAna koottam....."
    Ithu inspired from Kuruthippunal..????
    The Kamal Nasser scene i guess..??Enna righta

    By Blogger mutRupuLLi, at Thu Jul 05, 02:30:00 PM  

  • did u read anuradha guptha's blog about shivaji?

    she has written that she doesnt understand tamil....but she had called "shivaji a crap"(adhu unmathangradhu vera vishayam)

    but...without understanding tamil what did she grasp from the movie?

    similarly these north indian media doesnt know what rajni is...a guy who spoke in ndtv or something simply blabbers that rajni could easily win in politics...idiots

    By Blogger vigneshwaran shanmugam, at Thu Jul 05, 03:51:00 PM  

  • bala...u have mentioned about "certain actions of thalaivar"

    what are they?

    By Blogger vigneshwaran shanmugam, at Thu Jul 05, 05:51:00 PM  

  • Viji,
    LOL :))

    Thilak,
    aahaa.. thappa purinjukkiteenga..
    I meant "Kamal fan-a potta" can be interpreted in atleast two ways.
    "Kamal, fan-a podradhu" and "Kamal fan-a podradhu" ... :)

    And let's not get into the discussion about Rajini again because this post is not about that. It's in defense of fanaticism in general (Rajini fans are the context, though).

    "BTW, Would you defend this 'pal abhishegam'(by any fan), 'mann soru', 'kavadi rituals', 'sacrifice' (slaughtering goats and stuff in theatres'), etc"
    Paal Abishegam, Kavadi, etc.. - Why not? Poojai punaskaram ellam thappa? Illa, Aandavar sannidhiyil aacharamaaga iruppadhu dhaan thappa?
    Hey Ram la Abhyankar oru dialogue solluvaaru.
    "adhu OnAyA irundhu pAthA dhAn puriyum"

    Slaughtering Goats:
    Virumaandi to Annalachumi (on AL being upset about the goat sacrifice): "nEthu kUda kozhambu vekka Atta vetti dhAnE AkkunInga?"

    About the article, haven't read it. Linku irukka?

    Sridhar,
    "Ithu inspired from Kuruthippunal..????
    The Kamal Nasser scene i guess..??Enna righta
    "
    - Rightu!! :)
    Dialogue ketta odane pullarikkudhilla???

    Reminds me of a small connection to this in Mumbai.
    I was with a Tamil friend in a fast food joint in Mumbai.
    Friend (looking at all the situkkal): "Bala, namma oorla kaNla dhAn kalAchAra balam theriyum. inga iduppulayE kalAchAra balam theriyidhu" :)
    The timing did it! (avar Coimbatore aalu)

    Vikki,
    Anuradha Sengupta is a poor woman who commited the cardinal sin of stating the obvious (truth) - Sivaji is crap.
    Crap stinks. Period. Language is no bar.
    About N.Indies, recognition etc.. we can take the same Kurudhippunal.
    "indha mAsam Time magazine la ivanga padam vandhirukku. India-vukku ulaga pugazh eppadiyellAm kedaikkudhu pAthiyA?"

    About certain 'actions' of Aandavar:
    1) Going to the 804 days function was unavoidable but what he spoke certainly was
    2) Agreeing to go to Pokkiri celebrations inspite of those guys calling (prefering) Rajini first - who declined to come.

    By Blogger Bala (Karthik), at Fri Jul 06, 10:59:00 AM  

  • niruthaNum, ellAthayum niruthaNum

    By Blogger ., at Fri Jul 06, 11:05:00 AM  

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