Ajith Kumar, who recently ended a successful racing season, has weighed in on the fan culture in India, criticising it and urged people as well as the media to stop encouraging celebrations that involve causing harm to public property, including bursting firecrackers in theatres.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, The actor, who has been active in the industry for over three decades spoke about the flipside to earning massive fame and how that has hindered him from living a normal life. Talking about how he misses spending quality time with his family, he shared, "I am travelling most of the time. My son and daughter cry saying, 'Papa, why can't you be like the other fathers, coming to school and dropping us off'. It gets hard...Sometimes I have dropped them. After two or three days, people would know that I would be visiting the school at this particular time. There have been times that I was politely asked to leave."
"I don't think any of us orchestrate these. When fans love us so much, they want to come take a picture, and touch you. I can't drive in India. Everytime I take my family out, people notice you. Sun films are also banned here. So before you know it, there are 50-60 motorcycles surrounding you to take a picture of you," he added. "They are putting their lives as well as other motorists lives at risk. There were instances where they had bumped my car and then hit a stationary vehicle and hurt themselves. Some of them have had the audacity to park their vehicles in front of my car, wanting me to roll down my window or get out of the vehicle to take a picture. They don't realise that someone might be waiting to go to a hospital behind me or are waiting to drop their loved ones at school," he said, sharing an unfortunate incident when a 'fan' slashed his hand. "They claim to be a fan, but who knows? They might want to hurt you. I have scars on my hand. I have been slashed by a blade," he said.
While he underlined the positive aspects of media and the attention actors get from fans, he discouraged them from causing harm to public property under the garb of celebrations. "Today I have a good life thanks to the fans. We love all that attention we get, but I think it has to come with monitoring. The theatre owners spend so much money in upgrading their theatres, and then there are fans who burst firecrackers, damage seats and tear the screens. Earlier, they would demand theatre staff to stop the movie and demand them to replay a song or fight scene once more. When they don't oblige, they tear the screen. Come on...all this needs to end," he noted.
He further highlighted the role of media, urging them not to pit one actor against another. "One section highlights that one actor received a bigger opening than another one. What happens is that another fan group takes that personally to prove they are one step above," he said.