By Karthik Sridhar
ஏற்றிவிடவோ தந்தையும் இல்லை
ஏந்திக்கொள்ள தாய் மடி இல்லை
என்னை நானே சிகரத்தில் வைத்தேன்
அதனால் உனக்கென்ன?
I had no father to raise me up,
No mom’s lap to relaxation upon.
I raised myself to the height –
So inform me, why does it hassle you?
Simmered “Thala” Ajith in Attakaasam, with Vairamuthu offering lyrical bazookas in what was a not-so-thinly veiled assault on we-all-know-who. It should’ve taken guts – and a little bit of sheer delusion – to take a swing at a star who had simply shot himself into the stratosphere with Ghilli, which had by the way launched a couple of months earlier and was nonetheless in all probability towering over Ajith’s head.
However that’s not all. It should’ve taken a particular order of psychedelics to return on the again of Anjaneya and Janaa – two priceless gems in their very own proper – and nonetheless egg Vairamuthu on to create what I’d name my technology’s first diss observe. I used to be all of 11, impishly stoking hearth between Thala and Thalapathy followers whereas concurrently claiming ethical excessive floor by refusing to hitch both camp.
However that’s not my intention at present.
If Vairamuthu provided the arsenal and Ajith pulled the set off, the struggle cry got here from Tippu – who, fortuitously, additionally sang Ghilli’s opening observe Soora Thenga. Years later, Sai Abhyankkar, Tippu’s vocal inheritor, would go on to satisfy Vijay at a public occasion, sealing it with a wonderfully in-sync handshake. If it weren’t for Vijay’s political ambitions, Abhyankkar may’ve ended up composing for him.
I name it a bizarre set of coincidences; others may name it a by-product of nepotism.
Curiously, Vijay himself – by the identical yardstick – can be a product of nepotism, however he isn’t seen by that lens. Not less than, not in the event you’re Ajith from 20 years in the past. Perhaps Sai Abhyankkar wouldn’t have been labelled equally if he hadn’t ushered in two of Gen-Z’s most foot-tappable bangers, Katchi Sera and Aasa Kooda. I don’t recall Srikanth Deva being viciously trolled, or Karthick Raja being known as a nepo-kid.
What does nepo-kid even imply, anyway? They are saying it prefer it’s a species. Like there’s a Nepo Dad someplace breeding them in take a look at tubes. However I digress. Clearly, success has one thing to do with selective outrage, as a result of the shortage of it’s simply plain boring, isn’t it? What’s the purpose of a rap battle if the opponent has the word-associative skill of a ten-year-old?
Now, a reader may just about seize me by the collar and ask – “What about cases the place these “nepo-kids” had been truly profitable?” Would a Yuvan Shankar Raja or a G. V. Prakash Kumar have survived the baptism of fireside in the event that they had been debuting at present? Presumably sure. Presumably not. Yuvan was seventeen when he debuted with Aravindhan, ready two full years to interrupt out with Poovellam Unakkaga, whereas G. V. did it on his first attempt with Veyyil at nineteen. Not less than Abhyankkar is being in comparison with Anirudh – poor G. V. would’ve been benchmarked in opposition to his legendary uncle.
So, if the extent of success isn’t straight proportional to the extent of hate-mongering, what’s modified within the final twenty years?
How did nepotism – as soon as referring to undue benefits given to members of the family in workplaces – get implanted like a mole in everybody’s thoughts? The seminal second was that notorious Karan Johar–Kangana Ranaut interview (with a helpless Saif Ali Khan watching from the sidelines). The subsequent canon occasion got here with the renewed dialog across the tragic demise of Sushant Singh Rajput. Slightly over three years later, the identical Kangana was drumming up the nepotism narrative once more – whereas conveniently giving the general public a hate car which perversely acted as an escape for individuals with their very own bleak outlook on life. It was irony in three dimensions.
If the arrival of OTT in the course of the pandemic was a Western import, then the resurgence of the nepotism debate throughout the identical interval was a Bollywood import. And like each imported pattern, it discovered its personal twisted adaptation right here.
Quickly, what had at all times been a generational mannequin within the southern industries was dragged into the identical whirlpool – dissected by the gleefully devious faculty of cancel tradition. The entire thing was social media’s equal of “your mother.” A lazy individual’s moist dream of successful an argument. Sadly, the drip’s on all of the flawed locations.
ஒருதடவைஜெயிப்பதெல்லாம்
சரித்திரம்ஆகாது
தினசரிநீஜெயித்துவிடு
திசைகளும்உன்னோடு…
Successful as soon as doesn’t make historical past.
Win each single day –
and even the instructions of the world
will flip in your favour.
Who is aware of – possibly that’s precisely what Vijay advised Sai Abhyankkar behind the digicam.
