Cinema and the Art of Suicidal Adulation

A businessman named Vishnuvardhan, who worked in the Kannada film industry, passed away today. He worked as a lead actor and made money, name and fame in the process. However, he must not have been too popular, as his death has resulted in only one fan-suicide, and only a few buses got burnt to cinders.

As an intelligent nation, we would hope for a similar aftermath when someone like Kiran Bedi or Medha Patkar dies. I mean, how else do you explain adulation, especially given that the Bedis and Patkars have genuinely contributed to social change. But then, they can't act, do rain dances with starlets half their age, or or promote hedonism. I don't want to own property in Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad or Bombay. You never know...

Sarcasm aside, Vishnuvardhan was (strange for the cinematic world, though) a genuinely good man.