Reporter's Diary: A lot rides on his name apparently

CHENNAI: Ever since Tamil actor Vijay’s manoeuvres hinted at an entry into politics, he has been at the receiving end of the realpolitik of the land. While the bigwigs refrained from commenting on yet another actor’s aspiration to become a politician, fringe elements and ‘one (wo)man army’ letter pad political parties had their day in the sun.

It’s a given that no TV news crew or YouTube channel will be interested in the opinions of such entities unless a controversy is stirred.

As if their prayers were answered, a song from the actor’s upcoming movie, Leo, was released a couple of weeks ago with images of the actor dancing with a cigarette in his mouth. The lyrics in the song too were favourable for the letter pad parties’ cause and every other day, there was a complaint at the Police Commissioner’s office to arrest Vijay.

A man who claimed to be an RTI activist approached the city police and had his few minutes of glory too. On that day, his point of view was the most sought-after sound-byte, and no reporter from any news agency wanted to miss out on it.

The reporter promptly texted the activist identifying himself and his employer, asking if the latter could speak on the issue. However, there was no response from the activist and the reporter too went on with his everyday work.

“I heard from a colleague that the activist had allegedly received several messages and phone calls from the actor’s fans,” the reporter told me.

The reporter then got a message from the activist stating that he’ll be filing a complaint against him too. The activist, the reporter believes, must have assumed he too was a fan due to his message seeking an interview. After all, the reporter’s name is Vijay.