Heartbreak Kids

Around the time Alaipayuthey released, I wrote a piece on actors who became heartthrobs in Tamil cinema. Starting off quite late(the 90s), I picked Karthik(in/after Mouna Raagam), Arvind Swamy and Abbas as the members of the short list. Since its been awhile since Alaipayuthey and Maddy arrived, I thought the piece could use an update but it wasn't that straightforward.

I don't think any of the actors since Maddy have created the kind of rage that those actors did on their debuts. Sure there were a few actors who generated some buzz before their movies released and a few others who were launched quietly but got noticed after their movies came out. There was Shaam, who got to act with the two leading ladies of the time in his very first movie 12B. There was Arya, who stole the limelight with his casual performance in Arindhum Ariyaamalum. There was Sidharth who was sincere as he stole Genelia's heart in Boys. There was Vishal who was introduced as the next big thing in Chellamey. There was Karthi who surprised us with his mature performance in Paruthi Veeran. There was Vinay who director Jeeva promised, would be the next heartthrob after Unnaale Unnaale. And most recently, there was Nakul, who underwent a drastic transition to play a disturbed hero in Kaadhalil Vizhundhen.

There are atleast 2 things common to the heroes who became heartthrobs. They appeared in films in an urban setting and they played cute, playful and decent characters. Some of the aforementioned actors didn't ascend to heartthrob status because they didn't follow these 2 rules. Karthi appeared in a rustic role while Sidharth lost out because of the shades of perversion in his character. Nakul's role, on the other hand, was simply too dark and tragic. Shaam and Arya(the former much more than the latter) had only their choice of films to blame as they starred in critical and commercial duds. Vishal is no longer even in contention, what with his focus on becoming the next action hero while Vinay hasn't generated much enthusiasm though both movies so far have been hits.

One trend in Tamil movies so far is that the overnight heartthrobs fade out soon after their 15 minutes of fame (this is different from Bollywood where actors like SRK, Aamir and Salman debuted as heartthrobs and are still reigning stars there). Actors like Arvind Swamy and Abbas are posterboys for this. But other actors with comparatively lower-profile debuts go on to become heartthrobs and have a much longer run. Like, for instance, Ajith. He debuted with Amaravathy but it wasn't until movies like Kaadhal Mannan, Vaali and Kaadhal Koattai that he became a heartthrob. Same is the case of the actor who, I think, carries the title of heartthrob today - Surya. Overshadowed by Vijay in his debut film Nerukku Ner and being known as a low-profile hero with weak dancing skills in his next few movies, he has been making girls go ga-ga over him in his last few movies. And the loud cheers and screams from the fairer sex during Vaaranam Aayiram - and closer to home, the oohs and aahs from the wife and her cousin during an interview telecast on Vijay TV - confirmed that he is Tamil cinema's latest heartbreaker. Let's see how long he holds on to that crown...