Chennai: There would be at least a thousand heads around, but bouncers will be in tens and the organisers even lesser than that.
In the midst of this crowd, a celebrity walks into a store that is about to be opened or an auditorium for an event. From the perception of the celebrity, it would be a Herculean task to go past all of them and reach the ‘destination’ without any untoward incident. It is at this time that hundreds of hands go up, holding a mobile with a front camera facing themselves along with the VIP they love.
Actor Sivakumar, known for his patience, maturity and scholastic skills, was put in a similar situation recently. But, when he was about to declare open a shop, he roughly brushed aside the mobile of a person waiting to take his picture and it fell to the ground.
The video went viral and blotted out recent trends like Sarkar story plagiarism issue, Mathimaran’s dosa video trolls and, above all, Kollywood’s #MeToo movement.
So, what made this yoga fanatic lose his patience, was the question buzzing on social media. Sivakumar responded through a written statement and video explanation saying that he did not mean to be rude, but the way people around him pushed the security personnel and organisers made him do so. Also, he said he was not Buddha to be patient but an ordinary person.
This led to a virtual campaign where fans started to post selfies they took with celebrities and how they kindly responded and cooperated.
See this picture of Vijay Sethupathi taking a selfie with a differently-abled person by kneeling down and kissing him. In the picture, the 96 actor is smiling at him and holding the camera to take a selfie. In not just this instance, but Vijay Sethupathi has always let people show their affection with hugs and kisses while clicking a selfie with him.
Apart from Vijay Sethupathi, there were many other actors, actresses and film celebrities praised by fans for their generosity and love when asked for a selfie. Film stars like Mirchi Shiva, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Andrea, Vetri Maaran, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and A R Rahman were some of them.
Haamid Yuvan, a Facebook user and an ardent fan of Yuvan Shankar Raja, posted a selfie with the music director with the caption, “When my hands shivered in Happiness, He took my mobile and told “Nan Selfie Edukren… Inga paaru”.”
Similarly, top actors like Vijay, Ajith, Simbu and Dhanush, too, are known to respond readily to selfies. People have seen Vijay smile and immediately pose with kids who want to snap photos or selfies with him. “It is this attitude of his that has brought a mass fan base among the younger generation,” said a fan of Vijay.
Similarly, Ajith, who does not attend cinema events, agrees kindly to selfies. A water can delivery boy who visited Ajith’s residence a couple of months back posted a picture on social media. He said, “It was Thala who opened the door. When I asked for a selfie, he said, ‘Eduthukalam pa’ and immediately posed.”
Given that selfie culture is here to stay and being mobbed for that one picture with them is part of the life of a celebrity, the recent reaction of Sivakumar came as a shocker for everyone. It remains to be seen if people have accepted his apology.