Kamal Haasan’s decision to host Bigg Boss Tamil is a true WTF moment for viewers in Tamil Nadu.
First off, he’s not as entertaining as Salman Khan on the small screen.
It takes a lesser intellect to shoot off one’s mouth sans a brain-to-mouth barrier. But, what is more discomfiting is that the show shatters the persona that Kamal Haasan has chiseled for himself amongst the people of the state.
My relationship [with my fans] has been very different [from those of other actors.] … I have become — from just [being] their entertainer — their elder brother and sort of a leader to them.Kamal Hassan
The Problem With Kamal as Host
Kamal Haasan is a self-proclaimed atheist. He has no qualms about eating beef and is Kollywood’s favourite lover boy.
But in Tamil Nadu, public appearances are where characters are made. From interviews to promote his films, to award functions (of which he attends very few), to his speeches at Google and other corporate outings, Kamal Haasan comes through as dignified, humble and diplomatic.
Be it Koffee with <insert yesteryear celebrity> or print interviews, Kamal has never been confrontational, nor cheesy.
But the Bigg Boss format is anything but diplomatic. It eschews humility and thrives on confrontations between the contestants and the host.
I’m trying to bring - within the parameters of the show - my own personality to the show... It’s a social experiment. This is how I understood it, and decided to come onto the show.Kamal Haasan speaking about Bigg Boss
The Other Problem With Kamal as Host
Kamal is great at defending the projects he’s a part of. With movies like Hey Ram!, Vishwaroopam, Dasavatharam and Virumandi, he’s had ample practice. But in all of the above examples, he was involved in the creative process and bought into everything the movies stood for. He knew where he was coming from, when he spoke of Hey Ram!, or defended Vishwaroopam as a secular film.
But to call Bigg Boss Tamil a ‘genuine social experiment’, among other things, is both misleading and naive.
One may consider this a trial for community living. This is not just a current experiment, but one that has been tried since the time of Jesus Christ.Kamal Hassan speaking about Bigg Boss
What Kamal Hassan might be referring to is the ‘fraternal life in community’. In other words, twelve singular individuals who lived as one family, and who followed Jesus, as their leader.
Here again he equates what is a completely natural experience, to the one that is synthetically re-created in Bigg Boss. The latter is riddled with technological surveillance, coupled with the promise of more moolah if the drama quotient is high enough.
Also, Bigg Boss is not a scientific experiment. It does not take place in a controlled environment, nor are the emotional responses of the inmates recorded summarily and analysed.
The Demigod Disconnect
Kamal Hassan is a demigod in Tamil Cinema. He belongs to a very short, but hoary list of alpha males who’ve ruled the screen much past their prime, and were declared legends while alive.
Across the state, people are either Kamal fans or Rajini fans. There is no other. Bharani, one of the contestants is visibly thrilled as Kamal holds his daughter, while ushering him into the house. Before going in, Bharani declared that he would celebrate that day as his daughter’s birthday, henceforth. The audience believed him.
Kamal Hassan has also been fairly inaccessible to the public, and even to the media, except to promote his films, or to make a political statement.
As the host of Bigg Boss, he is seen involving himself in the petty fights and problems of B listers who he would never have come in contact with in real life. His questions to the eliminated contestants are witty, yet subtle and safe. He is still the ‘Anna’ (elder brother), to all of the contestants, not wanting to hurt anyone’s feelings.
As the show progresses, the disconnect between the antics of the inmates, and Kamal’s sophisticated mien will be felt more sharply. There is no moral dilemma here, only a bad casting choice.
(We all love to express ourselves, but how often do we do it in our mother tongue?
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