When fans have a blast, leaving others aghast…

For long, southern cinema has been spotlighted for its larger-than-life cinema stars and the equally fanatic fan following they command among their ever-swelling legion of fans, cutting across genders and age groups. Hence, it must have been a wake-up call, a reality check of sorts for these star lovers to have read about how the fans of Salman Khan greeted his latest release – Tiger 3- at a cinema theatre in Malegaon, Maharashtra.

Quite surely, all their wolf whistles, hooting and colour ribbons strewn around seem childish in comparison to what the upcountry fans did to welcome the grand entry of their hero by bursting crackers and releasing rockets to create a sizzling impact. All this, within the cinema theatre, putting other viewers to grave risk, leave alone their own lives, as blind hero worship took charge totally on Diwali day, when the latest spy thriller of Sallu Bhai hit the theatres all over the world.

Rather expectedly, this shocking attitude of young action lovers, bordering on anti-social behaviour has rightly jolted the movie maniacs, with Salman Khan, as a damage control move, sending a message asking them to desist from such actions. A point to note is that this is the second time such a heinous act has been committed in the name of celebrations during a Sallu film release. The earlier time, it was two years ago, when Salman’s ‘Antim’ had been released in November 2021. There seems to be a method in this madness, it seems.

Obsessive, one-sided infatuation with the onscreen personas of film stars seems to be never-ending. Perfectly normal young men and women, seem to fall for this filmi trigger every time, making them irrational, bigoted and absolutely beyond reasoning. Unfortunately, this is not confined to the hoi polloi or the lumpen elements in society but has enough support even in elite circles. The online trolls, the name-calling and abusive social media posts are all par for the course for this crowd.

It has been a routine thing to see fans losing lives for the most trivial of reasons, including the burning urge to bag a ticket for first day first show of their favourite star’s films. Celebrations have turned fatal for the volatile among this pack, so many times, across cities and towns of southern India.

This time, however, things seem to have gone a little too far. Cocooned in their own private worlds and deluded into thinking that their lives are untouched and immune to day-to-day social routines, the heroes have got away, by spending a few lakhs, availing of photo-ops and signing for the next venture.

The kid glove treatment they get from people who matter, owing to their popularity and the utility value they have for the Establishment has emboldened them to steer clear of the irresponsible acts of their followers, adopting a teflon approach. The saddening thing is that no one seems interested to take the first step to crack the whip and tell their worshippers to desist from such unruly behaviour, which is of no real value addition to them in the real sense of the term.