Thiruvalluvar The Boss and Sakalakalavallavan Bharathi

For the terribly ignorant, the above pictures are not Kamal’s avatars in his next film. They are Tamil Nadu’s historic and literary icons – Thiruvalluvar and Bharathiyar respectively.

Cut to 2008, June 26, 10:53:27. I had a passing thought relating the above two legends to the so-called legends of today (No offense meant to the four).

Thiruvalluvar was born earlier than Bharathiyar. He had put forth numerous couplets, though short is size, conveying so much about life. These thirukkurals were absorbed by the people who read them. They are memorized by children world over and recited often. Apart from the thirukkurals, Thiruvalluvar was a low key person and was respected world over without exceptions right from his times. Also his relationship with his wife Vasuki was one of the strongest and they are considered the ideal couple by many. Thus, there were no problems in his personal life too. Thiruvalluvar was famous also for his beard.

Bharathiyar, born later, was a maverick and wrote poems that were radical and revolutionary in nature. They were much ahead of their times and hence were snubbed by the people then. These were mostly on social issues and appealed for social change. He advocated that there are no religions and humanity is of prime importance. He stood for equality of women and wrote poems triggering the feminist movement. No body paid any heed to these literary works. But, after a long time, these poems were considered works of classic and revived big time. However, he had ignored his wife Chellamma during the fight for his causes and hence is not considered successful in his personal life. He had lived only for his passion – Poetry. He was known for his twisted moustache.

Also Thiruvalluvar is and looks much older than Bharathiyar in photographs.

Rajnikanth, similar to Thiruvalluvar, delivers pithy one-liners and punch lines, about life too like “Saagara naal therinju pochuna vazhara naal naragam ayidum” (If you get to know your day of death, the living days will become hell). These lines are instant hits with the audience and are memorized and repeated by kids all over! Rajni, too, is media shy and does not come on screen except for his films. He is respected by all his colleagues. His personal life is very smooth and he has not been into controversies for that. Outside the screen, Rajni is spotted caressing his beard often during discussions and functions.

Kamal Haasan, the maverick of today, makes films that are too ahead of their times and are instantly disowned by the people. However, these are the films that are taken up after years and hailed as classics. His films deal with social issues too. His ideology is that there are no religions and Anbe Sivam! (Love is god), He produced a film called “Magalir Mattum” stressing upon the need for emancipation of women. But, his personal life has not been too good and is mostly because of his indulgence in his passion – Cinema. He is seen often twisting his moustache during interviews and public functions.

Similarly, Rajnikanth is older than Kamal and it shows too!

Superstar Thiruvalluvar and Ulaga Nayagan Bharathiyar?