Kamal loyalty to IR -1

Plum Niyappa @nom_d_plum

22nd June 2013 from TwitLonger 

have been avoiding getting into arguments of Kamal's loyalty(or not) to Ilayaraja for several reasons, mainly two, 1) The criticism comes from strongly entrenched personal disapproval of Kamal mostly 2) 'Loyalty' in this context is a spurious concept, often leading to arguments based on the fans-claimed loyalty rather than the actual relationship itself. And then, ofcourse, it is all speculation, especially when the principals themselves get on well. Nevertheless, a few thoughts from me now shouldn't really lead to the end of the world, so... 1. Loyalty is a spurious concept, in this context. To illustrate, let me take my own rant against Bharathiraja. At the heart of my rant against BR - in principle, similar to Kamal detractors'(among IR fans) stand against him - is his 'defection' to other MDs. Or, really, is it? It isnt and I'll tell why. It is not at all unusual that friends who are collaborators in their chosen field, at some point of their career, drift apart, while remaining friends otherwise. You could even say in some cases, that continued colloboration might end the friendship and hence, it is a decision that helps save the friendship. History is replete with such instances. This isnt unusual at all. If I based my put-down of Bharathiraja on the fact that he promoted a rival MD, I would be naive, and not to mince words, stupid. My criticism of BR, on the other hand, is based on his [i] active[/i] effort to discredit IR's character, and the lies, or perhaps, modified truths(propelled by BR's delusion about himself, if I wish to be charitable. The man tries to casually demean IR's legacy by claiming IR's contribution to his films is the same as GV Prakash's - a lie so obviously a pumpkin that even the naive, stupid TN which swallowed, and continues to swallow, several such lies and misrepresentations, cannot but see the attempt to hide it in a handful of rice. This is propelled by multiple factors 1) Caste. BR makes a meal out of his friendship for IR, and much mileage was sought by his supporters on his caste-neutrality in maintaining such a friendship with a "lower" caste IR, as if it was a gift from the higher caste BR who condescended to approve of the lower caste man's talents. That very fact undermines his pretence. And his eventual siding with fellow-caste member VM, and continuous attempts to discredit IR speak of his betrayal. Maybe he is deluded about VM's equivalence to IR - that is the charitable explanation. But I find it hard to swallow. Secondly, there are those who argue that why should he "go out of the way" to befriend a "lower" caste man, if he was casteist. These people dont understand how the human mind works. Maybe, in his youth, he was genuinely caste-neutral but as man consolidates his family and position, it is not unusual that tribal instincts come to fore, and my speculation is that this is what - consciously or subconsciously - is happening to Bharathiraja viz a viz IR/VM. 2) Delusion about his own talents. In Bharathiraja's mind, he is a super-talented actor/director, who is, perhaps, better talented in direction than Raja is talented in music. I have diagnosed this condition long back in him - and even for the less observant, he has given adequate demonstration of this condition with his comments implying that he is better than even Sivaji Ganesan in acting. The frustration for him is that - despite his and his friends' attempts to reduce IR's legacy - IR stands like a colossus in tamil people's hearts nad he has nowhere near the same legacy or standing. With these reasons, it is possible to understand his shenaignans against Raja and his collaboration with certain gang which actively plotted to plant canards agains Raja. Now, where does my case of betrayal against BR come from? It comes from the fact that first and foremost, he was a friend to IR. Their collaboration, professional commitments all come after that. And IR stood his end of the friendship when he staked his money and professional reputation and helped BR by producing AO, when BR was down and out, thanks again to his current fellow-conspirator KB's shenaignans with the media against him(How time flies!) I wouldnt care too much if BR simply used other MDs even after all this - I woiuldnt consider that betrayal but simply as a professional decision but BR's culpability comes in his allying with evil forces that employed third-rate methods against Raja, and continues to do so. And now he has gone beyond the pale in his delusion - and h is acts and words now dont even have the justification of a result of his fellow conspirators' demand. And this part is driven by his jealousy about IR. Anyway, it is this sort of behaviour that constitutes disloyalty and treason in my view. (contd) http://tl.gd/n_1rkv850