For about the last 21 years of my life ( and I am not much older than that!) I have been an ardent fan of ‘Vijay’. So for those of you not from India, Vijay is one of the leading actors in the ‘Tamil’ film industry of India with about 62 films that he has acted in for most of which he was the leading protagonist. He’s won over 50 awards for his acting, he’s a talented dancer and has even crooned for a few of his songs.
I have no clue what it was about him that kind of got my attention when I was a kid. It might have been his comical sense and timing that was always there in his movies. It could have been his songs that I always seemed to like. It could have been his dance moves or one of the many many things I like about him.
But here’s the catch. Most Indians, unfortunately, do not know the meaning of constructive criticism and practicality. And I am an Indian myself.
Admittedly, that was exactly how I was when I was a kid.
I’d get pissed off every time someone said anything about Vijay. And as a retaliation, I’d do the exact same thing to whichever actor that person liked. I’d shout, I’d cry out, I’d make a fuss until they gave up and admitted defeat, or they got extremely annoyed and left.
More than a decade and a degree in films later, I’d say I’m just a teeny bit wiser.
Now, it doesn’t make sense to me why people would judge an actor based on his looks. But more importantly, I don’t understand why people would think that simply because they didn’t like someone, no one else should. So when someone comes up to me and says he’s ugly, why do you even like him, I now have the better sense to walk away from that discussion.
Because guess what, in life, and in this world, no one’s perfect. There’s no single person who is a talented actor, who’s also tall, perfectly handsome, light-skinned, and talented in singing, dancing and every other thing under the sky.
Because guess what, I like an actor because there’s something about his acting, his characters on screen, his mannerisms on-screen that appeals to me. And that right there, that’s just my own opinion and no one else’s. I am not going around enforcing a fan following behind Vijay on anyone just cause I like him. And all I expect is that same courtesy from everyone else.
Because, most of all, guess what, it’s just reel life. What does it really matter???
A Different Take 
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