Success and Sycophants

Nandha was a turning point in the career of Suriya. It catapulted him into the small league of people who were known as Actors.  The year was 2001 and the critical and commercial success of Nandha saw Suriya take risks in selecting scripts, which he would have never dreamt of.  KaakhaKaakha – a stylized drama featuring him as a cop co-starring his future wife followed soon after and received immense praise.  This was followed by movies like AayuthaEzuthu, Pithamagan and Perazhagan. Each movie was different from the other in tone and tenor and context, he played a wide range of characters and these movies, which many would remember for a long time to come. During this period, Suriya took his third major decision in life wherein he stuck to his guns and refused to budge despite parental opposition to the girl he wished to marry. He managed to convince his parents and those who doubted and married Jyotika, a co-star who he fell in love with. 

Sometime during 2004, post the release of Perazhagan, Suriya was offered the role played by Siddarth in the hindi cult classic Rang de Basanti. Suriya liked the role, script and also wanted to experience acting in a different language. However, he was very unsure if he could compete with actors like Aamir khan in an ensemble cast. He eventually declined the offer.  

In the year 2008, he starred in his magnum opus called VaarnamAariyam. It was the most complete performance from any actor in a long time.  Suriya surpassed all expectations in this movie in which he starred in a double role as the father and son.  The movie started production in 2006 and took two years to release but the wait was worth it. It became the biggest hit in Suriya’s career. 

With successive hits and critical acclaim, came fame, money and of course Sycophants/ hangers-on.  Sycophants are a group of people who are akin to termites. They come without warning and become close to a successful person.  For eg, termites attach themselves to a house and slowly they destroy it.  Similarly, sycophants are a group of people who attach themselves to a successful person and slowly destroy him/her.  To cut a long story short, from 2008 till now, Suriya has become a prisoner of image created by media/sycophants and has become a prisoner. 

Sycophants Reign Supreme

Post the release of Vaarnam Aariyam, Suriya wanted to take it easy for a while. The role in Vaarnam Aariyam took a heavy toll on Suriya physically and mentally.  This decision to take it easy made things for Sycophants easier than they imagined. Suriya acted in movies like Ayan, Singam, Aadhavan all of which stuck to the perfect template of a commercial movie. It required the hero to bash up 20 people, say some whistle worthy dialogues and dance with the heroine in an exotic foreign locale. None of the roles in the above-mentioned movies demanded any preparation or workshop or going out of comfort zone.  Subsequently, by the year 2012, Sycophants and sundry hanger-ons had completely taken over and were instrumental in Suriya deciding to a movie. 

This period (2010-2018) witnessed some notable disasters like Mass, Anjaan, RaktaCharitra along side illogical movies made for fans who lack brain like Singam series,  Maatran, 7 am Arivuetc,.  Suriya did try to rectify a little bit in 24 but the movie demanded a worthy opponent, not himself doing a negative role. Would Baahubali be a big hit if Prabhas played the positive and negative roles himself? No way. It was a befuddling decision that to show he could carry a negative role, he played a double role. The script and screenplay of “24” demanded a different actor in each role. Suriya should have stuck to playing either the positive or negative character. Some people did praise him for the movie but if one were to check the script written by the Director, he was clear initially he wanted two people but Suriya prevailed over him.  Following this, Suriya again acted in Singam series (part 3) , a colossal waste of money, talent and time. He also did TSK in which he allowed his hanger-on's and sycophants to dictate terms. A movie based on true incident about a mysterious person who cheated and ran away was changed completely. It was changed into some jolly good ride to please some people who lived off the earnings of Suriya. If at all Suriya wanted to do a fun movie with comic elements, he could have chosen a better script. It is perplexing why the original story was completely destroyed providing back-stories to characters, a fight scene in end to please front benchers. Movie may have been a success but the entire exercise demonstrated that Sycophants and fans were deciding factors for Suriya to do a movie.  

Time to break the shackles – Can he? Will he? 

Currently, Suriya is acting in two movies. Stories of both demand nothing special in terms of acting or displaying a new range. Both movies in production are totally in the commercial format and stick to the hero-worshipping template. Both will be pleasing to fans lacking brain, sycophants and sundry people who hang on to Suriya.  

However, the movie in pre-production to be directed by Sudha has the possibility to take Suriya to the next level.  Can Suriya break free from the shackles of sycophants? Will Suriya be able to free himself from clutches of self-created image? Does Suriya wish to do movies, which can satisfy the actor inside him? Can Suriya take some time off to self-introspect and contemplate on whether he wishes to stick to an image or break free and defeat the star?  Will one get to witness the Suriya of Nandha or VaarnamAayiram or should one be content to watch inane illogical movies like Singam or Anjaan? 

Does Suriya have the requisite courage and gumption to take the sycophants head on?  Can he tell the hanger-on’s not to depend on him for their livelihood? Of course, if he wishes to be a star only, then none of the above questions matter. He can continue to do movies to please fans and sycophants and kill the actor in him. 

End of day, Suriya needs to take the hard call if he wants to evolve and grow as an actor.  Will he or can or does even he want to take the fourth major decision of his life?

Only time will tell. - Vibha Saini 

READ FIRST PART HERE