The other day, my husband and I were dining at an elegant restaurant in the famous "Kollywood" area of Chennai when suddenly a group entered with such flourish that heads were compelled to turn and look. There was suddenly much activity as the maitre d'hotel and waiters rushed to usher the group to a reserved table and pull out chairs.
After they sat down, again with flourish, I glanced at their table - there was Mohan, erstwhile hero popularly known as "Mike" Mohan for his roles as a singer and who is nowhere in the movie charts now; the other person I recognised was Y.G. Mahendran, comedian, and more recently, TV artiste and producer. The others, I didn't know, or perhaps didn't recognise. The first two were maybe not known faces nationally but in this cinema-crazy state they were celebrities in their own right.
Coming from a city where one did not run into movie stars, combined with my curiosity about them, I wondered what their lives were really like. They were a little flashy, a little noisy and seemed to wallow in the attention they were getting but they were not offensive nor did they throw their weight around. In all probability, if anyone had gone up to them for an autograph or to say 'Hi' they would have smiled, shaken hands and made polite conversation. Nor did the crowd mob them or gawk at them openly. Maybe because we were in one of the classier restaurants, but all in all, it was an okay experience.
This reminded me of a friend who met Zakir Hussain, the tabla maestro, in Mumbai, wandering outside the auditorium where he was to perform a few hours later. When he caught my friend looking at him, the maestro himself said 'Hello' and asked him where he was from and what he did. When he found out he was from Coimbatore, he said he had been only to the city's airport on his way to Ooty once. He talked a little about his programme that evening before somebody came for him.
My husband remembered another story that endorsed the great musician's humility. Invited for a SPIC concert at a premier institution, somebody had bungled and forgotten to send a car to bring him from the airport. By the time the organisers realised it, he was at the venue, carrying his baggage, having gotten a taxi to drop him off, in an unfamiliar city and with no knowledge of the local language!
Another friend saw the great Kamal Hassan, well, almost bumped into him, on the roads of Chennai - as she was driving one day, she took a sudden right turn without warning. She heard brakes being slammed and the squeal of tyres. She turned, expecting sure rebuke, to find the "Super Actor" leaning out from the window and telling her to drive carefully. She was more bedazzled than embarrassed.
What most of us know about stars and celebrities is from reports about them in the media. And one doesn't know what to believe and what not to. So when one comes face to face with them in everyday situations, it is indeed refreshing to catch a glimpse of the real people they are.
