All that glitters is gold indeed! by Darina poye daanayya

We have stars aplenty - the real shining ones that glow under the bright arc lights and the less radiant ones that cannot cast their lights long, in time and distance, but stars nonetheless. All the upcoming ones aspire to become stars one day, while all the existing ones fight to keeping their twinkle till the end of the day. Top star, Mega star, Rising star, Shining star, Future star - the galaxy could not get any more crowded. While the ageing star starts his process towards becoming age-old star (or old-age star), his young one waiting in the wings, is raring to replace the spot, that he so deservedly owns by virtue of genetics. After all, who better at observing and understanding the nuances and intricacies that make up the stardom and consequently who better at inheriting the bragging rights of the same, than the young 'un who has the opportunity of observing everything from close (or possibly, the closest) quarters? Amidst all the packaging that goes into the making of the star, the rise to stardom, the eventual and the inevitable fall from grace from high above, and the times that are sandwiched between, does anybody care about a little thing called acting/performance any more? Is a star expected to be a performer too or there should be other actors that have to deal with the burdens of acting?

The awards committees figured out the distinction between stars and actors, well before the audience caught up to the idea and eventually warmed up to it. Notice any awards list - there is a Best Actor category (which should, in fact, be Best Star to avoid any future confusion) and there is a Best Character Actor category. The Best Actor would generally be awarded to one who does allround duties - sings, dances, fights, romances, pleases, punishes and many such 'Best Actorial' duties, while the Character Actor is usually restricted to mere acting/performing side of the spectrum. Even in cases where the Character Actor has exceeded his boundaries and limits to emerge as the lead performer in the movie, the impartial committees, having been an audience to such deceptive tactics and amusing antics many times before, are intelligent enough to not get swayed away by the performances and mix the Character Acting and Best Acting categories. Their criteria is driven by an old simple telugu proverb - kukka chaeyu pani kukka chaeya vale, gaaDida chaeyu pani gaaDida chaeya vale; and it is a sacrilege to the star brethren and actor institution, if the wise and knowledgable members of the awards committees do not base their judgments on such age old wisdom.

There is one more group of people, even among the audience section, which understands the subtle differences, in regard to the craft and methods, between a star and an actor. They nod their heads in acknowledgement for a break-out performance by an actor, while they scream their lungs-out ecstatically in unison even for a sub-par performance by their star. For them the job duties are laid out clearly - the star has to carry the entire movie on his grace and style, shouldering the onus of huge budgets and lavish setups, while delegating the trivial tasks such as acting to the character actors. The star's task is to entertain the fan, for the three hour duration that he willfully loses himself to the silver screen, and not get embroiled and entangled in the messy activities such as acting. If entertainment is what is wanted at the end of it all, how does it matter, if the fan is entertained even through the dictionless dialogue, wooden-faced expressions, acrobatic/aerobic dances (or sometimes, even through the lack of it). After all, the star tag has to account for something, and even more, if the tag is acquired as a part of the inheritance settlement from an illustrious actor a generation or couple before!

For the parts that are currently being written, there is no need for flexing my acting muscles - proudly proclaims the star, promptly passing the buck to the writer. Flustered by this unwanted attention towards his inability to write good parts, the writer lobs the ball back into the star's court, declaring that the acting abilities of the stars do not inspire him enough to write parts create roles that require least amount of acting. Exposed by this volte-face from the writer, the star sets his sights and adjusts his scope on the only mute members of the audience - his fans - ones who whole-heartedly accept the star for what he is without ever questioning his motives and intentions. Fans - fans are the real reason why stars cannot grow into actors; fans are the real reason why the writers cannot come up with good parts; fans are the real reason why the industry can only grow financially but can get nowhere artistically. It is high time that the paying fan realize the enormity of the burden, vis-a-vis the future of industry in terms of better movies, better performances and better scripts. It is high time that the paying fan realize his true potential and rise up to it, against the stars and the writers, who are getting richer by the second on his dime!

sTAru sTAru anaga faanu atiSayilluchu nunDu
faanu kOsamaae anagaa sTAru batuku veLLu
sTarDamula maarkulu saripOvu naTanalOna
viSwadaabhi rAma vinave sinee seema

- Daarinapoye Dannayya

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