Exclusive | Ajith Kumar on Fan Hysteria and Celebrations: It Needs To Be Monitored

Ajith Kumar speaks about fame without romanticising it.

In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, the actor discusses the other side of fame and the dangers of fan hysteria. "Today, I have a good life thanks to the fans. We love all the love and attention we get, but this needs to be monitored. Theatre owners spend so much money to upgrade their theatre, but in the name of celebrations, fans burst firecrackers and tear the screens, sometimes demanding a scene be played once more. All this needs to end."

There are ways to express love, and this isn't one of them, he says."We work hard for the love and do time away from the family, work long hours on the set and have sleepless nights. The media shouldn’t encourage this."

He recalls an incident that still makes him uneasy to talk about. “It happened during an outdoor shoot years ago,” he says. “People were reaching out to shake hands.” Moments later, he noticed that his palm was bleeding. “Someone had hidden half a blade between their fingers,” he says. “He couldn’t have been more than 19 years old; maybe he was drunk, or it was just hysteria. Different people show love in different ways, and we don't know what to expect."

The actor also briefly addresses the impact of this hysteria in the light of the Karur stampede. Around 41 people recently lost their lives in a stampede that broke out at a political rally by actor-turned-politician Vijay. “That individual alone is not responsible,” he says. “We are all responsible for what happened: the fans, the media, the system. Everyone has a part to play.”

Ajith believes that this cycle of chaos is being constantly fed by media coverage. “The media fuels it,” he says. “They highlight how X actor got a bigger opening than actor Y. So fans of one actor want to prove that they are a step above next time."