Film stars - people with the least social commitments

Perhaps, in no other profession people are so much so indebted to general public for what one has become than in movie industry. One’s dramatic skills alone would not make him a great artist, he becomes a great artist when his skills are acknowledged, applauded and above all watched in theater. Film stars greatly owe to their audience for what they have become but many a time they have least commitment to the people and the society at large.

In any other profession, people would reach to the zenith with one’s own efforts and hard work but it is not the case with film stars. Though a particular actor is highly talented and if his acting skills are not appreciated by audience he would not become famous so latent alone does not play him off. The case with all the actors is that in the beginning of their career they need audience support for that they remain humble, approachable, loving and all that and once they become famous they turn off from public.

The amount of luxury, comfort, fame, social status and popularity the film stars have been enjoying is by the money that the audience had given in the theatre to watch their film. Having imbibed so much so from the society and general public they give back the least to society for what they have achieved. Perhaps, no other profession would have such a huge pay scale, not even for sports personnel. It would not matter whether the movie is a blockbuster or flop, the film stars get their due. Indirectly, the huge money that is being paid as their wage is the estimated profit that the director and producer of the movie are expected to generate from the audience once the movie is released.

Society has a great role in shaping us and making us what we are today. There are services, help and support that we had received from society and people which are intangible. They are things that money can’t pay off so you and I owe a great deal to society for what we are today and how much more the film stars owe to society. Being in the limelight of fame and popularity, they are unaware of the suffering and needy brethren in the society.  

The Corporate Social Responsibility Bill is being passed in the Parliament whereby the companies need to invest 2% of profit as part of their social responsibility. We know only a handful of film stars are into social commitments. When the Mullaperiyar dam issue was a hot debate in Kerala in 2012 which could turn out to be a war between Keralities and Tamilians none of the Mollywood film stars responded to it or expressed their solidarity being sacred that their Tamil fans would stop watching their movies and the collection that movies make would be affected. (It was such a sensitive issue, if the Mollywood stars responded to it perhaps their Tamil counterpart also would have responded to it and that would have triggered a war between both the states)

But when there was a genuine strike called by newspaper distributors in Kochi to hike their salary, a few film stars like; Lakshmi Gopala Swami and Babu Raj came out publicly to distribute newspapers thereby to flop their strike. It was such a genuine need for which the film stars should not have intervened but they did and in which they should have interfered they did not. The few film stars get to social activities is to dodge tax returns and to make their black money into white.