The blurred line between reality and illusion: the influence of film personalities on the masses

Explore the impact of film personalities on society through Kamsalai's obsession in Jayakanthan's poignant novella, "Cinemavukku Pona Chitthalu."

Kamsalai, the heroine of Jayakanthan’s novella Cinemavukku Pona Chitthalu, is a microcosm of the wider political landscape of Tamil Nadu, susceptible to the charisma of film personalities. She belongs to an era when former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran wielded enormous influence over Tamil society.

A diehard fan of ‘Vaathyar’, as Jayakanthan refers to MGR, Kamsalai — whose real name remains unknown — lives on the margins of Chennai and represents the innumerable admirers of MGR who refused to see what lay beneath the glitter of filmdom.

The novella unmistakably evokes contemporary trends in politics, where many supporters of actor-politician C. Joseph Vijay defend their stance saying, “We are fatigued by the binary politics and are voting for a change.”

Jayakanthan was criticised for writing the novella, and some sought to capitalise on his work to settle scores with MGR. “I have openly expressed my views on the relationship between our society and actors. That I do not belong to groups that support them is precisely what I seek to convey — that I negate them,” wrote Jayakanthan when the novella, serialised in the magazine Kannadasan, was later published as a book.

Kamsalai, a village girl who moves to Chennai after her marriage to Chellamuthu, becomes MGR’s ardent admirer, aided by the opportunity to watch all his films. In a sense, her husband is responsible for this transformation. Yet, she reaches a point where she imagines her matinee idol even during moments of intimacy with her husband.

“Ignorant and credulous people lose their self-respect because of them. Films, actors, directors, and producers play a major role in destroying the mind, taste, and morals of the people. In fact, they themselves cannot be held entirely responsible, for they too, have fallen prey to it,” Jayakanthan wrote in the preface.