When stars get old: The case of ‘Veeram’ and ‘Jilla’

When stars get old: The case of ‘Veeram’ and ‘Jilla’

This Pongal will see two biggies fight it out at the Tamil box office, Vijay-starrer ‘Jilla’ and Ajith’s ‘Veeram’.  Both the movies have something in common that more than meets the eye. Ajith plays elder brother to four young actors in ‘Veeram’ and Malayalam superstar Mohanlal plays Vijay’s father in ‘Jilla’ and both the stars spot gracious white hair and beard with the all-white Tamilian outfit to go with it. Considering both the actors are A-list superstars and the way superstars looked onscreen in the respective industries, their decision to play aging men should definitely be given the credit of novelty. It is not that either Mohanlal or Ajith has not done it before for a full length character – Ajith has been carrying his ‘salt and pepper’ look since ‘Mankatha’ and Mohanlal has spotted white hair in ‘Grandmaster’. But, Mohanlal and Ajith can be hardly put in the same age category as Ajith is in his early forties and Mohanlal a good ten years older than him. Nevertheless, their avatars in the two upcoming movies say something about how the image of the lead actor is changing in the new filmic landscape.

Aging was a disgrace that fell on all others except the lead actors. Even somebody like Rajnikanth, who flaunts his baldy look with poise off-screen, has not appeared with grey locks for a full length character. The advances in hair dying technology came as a boon to many an aging superstars and their fight was directed against wrinkles and second chins. This explains why hoards of CG artist have loads of work to do on superstars who need to be touched up frame by frame.

With Ajith’s and Mohanlal’s decision spot the aged look, it appears that the tables are turning on the ‘age-old’ custom. This trend carries weight not solely due to its artistic merit but as the indicator of a general maturing of audience taste and wider views on heroes and heroism. The exposure of the audience to different cinematic styles and conventions and the infusion of new blood into filmmaking has made this possible without any doubt. Even then, this ‘breaking of convention’ was too late in coming. Hope this trend is the first light on a day of many innovations.