Fans maketh a star!
Matinee idols and their fan following are a given, until the craze goes beyond mere adoration
By : shashiprasad sm
Update: 2015-08-25 23:30 GMT
Abimani Devarugalu (referring to fans as Gods) was the term Sandalwood thespian, matinee idol late Dr Rajkumar used while interacting with his fans, Every actor becomes a star only with the unconditional support and love from their fans. From sending special birthday cards, tattooing their favourite star’s name and photos on their body, sketching portraits, doing social services on the star’s birthdays are some of the ways fans shower their love.
Recently Anthony, a cancer patient’s (in his early 20s) wish to watch his favourite actor Duniya Vijay’s latest film RX Suri before his death was fulfilled when a special show of Vijay’s yet-to-be-released RX Suri was arranged for Anthony and his family at Renukamba Theatre.
However, actors also have to deal with unruly fans who go to any extent to seek their attention. Take the case of Sri Murali of Ugramm fame — a 28-year-old woman who claimed to be in love with the actor attempted suicide in front of his house. Later, the actor had clarified that he had received numerous messages from the lady which he ignored. He chose not to lodge a police complaint as it would have ruined the woman’s life.
The Chandralekha star Shanvi Srivastava who has a large fan base from Tollywood to Sandalwood reveals that a fan followed her car once quite like the international paparazzi. “This fan ran behind my car on the main road in Hyderabad for a long time, until I begged him to go back. Otherwise, most of my fans send me cute gifts with my photographs on coffee mugs, or hand made earrings and pencil sketches. I feel blessed returning their love by working hard and doing meaningful movies,” adds Shanvi. But there have been some sad instances too. Recently, during the promotional activities of the film Ranna, one Rayappa, a Kiccha fan lost his life as he was electrocuted. Sudeep who was saddened by the news took to his Twitter account to share his grief and made a special request to all his fans.
Kiccha Sudeep wrote, “I pray for Rayappa’s soul to rest in peace… this is too heavy on me right now. Too shocking…” In another Tweet, he wrote, “I have taken years to earn u all... Ur lives r more precious to me than those garlands n banners… pls take care n pls be safe. I need u all.” Later, the actor also gave the deceased family financial assistance too.
Sometimes stars play fans too in films and this inspires their fans. In Mr and Mrs Ramachari, Rocking Star Yash plays an ardent Sahasa Simha Vishnuvardhan fan, and sported a temporary tattoo of the late actor on his chest. Yash’s fans promptly got his face tattooed on their chests to prove their love and loyalty for the star.
Various fans association, ike that of Real Star Upendra, Century Star Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, Ganesh and Crazy Star Ravichandran regularly organise events for a social cause to connect with their fan base. So, Dr Rajkumar was indeed right when he called them Abhimani Devarugalu.