For the first time an actor has confessed that he is quitting Tamil cinema (even after having quite a decent run) — via a note on Facebook!
He is none other than theatre personality-turned-actor Karthik Kumar, and husband of popular playback singer Suchithra. He stated in the post that he will be stopping acting right away — “It’s time to hang those boots, for good, or for a long while... either way they gotta come off now!”
When contacted, Karthik said, “It is purely a personal note and decision that I have taken. 13 years and 19 films is not an easy task for a person without a godfather in the industry. You could take it as a personal introspection at this point of my career”.
The actor says that he has had a wonderful time so far and finds the film industry magnificent. “I have no complaints against cinema and my writing is not a commentary on that. I have been lucky in the industry”.
“Truth be told — I succeeded in finding work. I didn’t have to do the dance of courting directors, ‘hanging out’, socialising, party presence etc... I still found work! So I can’t complain that I didn’t ‘fit’ in,” he wrote.
After doing films as a lead hero and then as a second hero and waiting for a long time to get his next, Karthik Kumar had to say this on his blog. “By this time my ‘value’ had been pegged by the industry — good actor, no hangups, nice looking, theatre background, asks for script, not expensive... sounds reasonable? Nope — this is an alarm of disaster... it means you are ready and willing to be taken for a happy cheap mighty disrespectful ride”.
Today, he says, he is stopping because he has run out of hunger and here in cinema hunger means hope. “Hope of something better, different and plentiful tomorrow. But the path I’m running is wrong... it’s better to stop running than run the wrong race! I’m stupid to believe that I stayed in the race long enough to have people see potential in me... it’s my job to understand my potential and respect it first!”. He also tells us, “If I feel the hunger and desire to act, then I may come back under the arc lights once again.”
