The change of guard in tamil cinema is gradually becoming more obvious. Rajnikanth and Kamalhassan, the two pillars of tamil cinema for the last 25 years, are not getting any younger and they have been cutting down on their assignments drastically. The box-office clout of the actors belonging to the second rung (Vijayakanth, Satyaraj, Sarathkumar to name a few) has been waning and then there's the question of suitable actors to play the younger characters in movies (how much longer could moviegoers be expected to accept Murali as a college student?!). So in the last few years, the time has been right for the younger generation to make its presence felt. The playing field is a lot clearer now with the also-rans and one-movie wonders making way for the actors of tomorrow. For now, Ajithkumar, Prashanth and Vijay have firmly established themselves as the trio that is poised to lead tamil cinema into the future. Let us take a brief look at the careers of these three stars of tomorrow.

Tamil cinema has had a two-star rule for the last two generations. First it was MGR and 'Sivaji' Ganesan and then the mantles were taken over by Rajnikanth and Kamalhassan. During each era, the two stars were the undisputed leaders, with the others in the field coming in a distant second. But the clear demarcation in the appeal of the two stars has remained the same in the two eras. MGR and Rajnikanth were the 'mass' heroes while Sivaji and Kamalhassan were the 'class' heroes. The tamil movie industry has so far been willing to crown two kinds of stars as kings in each generation - the super star and the super actor. Surprisingly, there are already signs of this kind of division among the younger stars. Vijay is seen as the heir apparent to Rajnikanth while Ajith is considered to be the next Kamalhassan. While it is definitely too early for this kind of talk (I'm pretty sure nobody saw Rajnikanth and Kamalhassan as the successors to MGR and Kamalhassan this early in their careers), it is easy to see the rationale behind it. So far Vijay has been starring in light, fluffy movies like Thullaadha Manamum Thullum with an accent on song and dance routines and stunts while Ajith has earned his name in roles that require heavier emoting in movies like Vaali and Mugavari.

Ajith entered the field rather quietly in 1993 with Amaraavathy. The movie, which also introduced Sangavi, was an average money-earner but did not make him a household name. That distinction belongs to Aasai, which was released two years later. Though containing a scene-stealing performance by Prakashraj, Ajith had the 'cute' factor on his side which got him noticed by the college girls. But he was unable to hold on the gains he made with Aasai. A series of flops followed until the slide was stopped short by Kaadhal Koattai. The movie was the biggest hit of 1996 and firmly established Ajith as a rising star. But the seesaw nature of his career continued as he had a precipitous slide with all his movies performing disastrously at the box office.

But true to his sobriquet of 'Comeback Man', he has made an astounding return to the front. His latest comeback started with Unnai Thedi which fared considerably better at the box-office than his previous movies. But the movie that truly signalled his comeback was Vaali. His performance as the deaf and dumb, evil brother lusting after his younger brother's wife earned rave reviews and propelled the movie to the No. 2 spot among the 1999 releases. This time, he has stuck to the successes gained, with a good selection of movies to follow up. Amarkkalam was a big hit and his performace as the rowdy was noticed. And though the box-office fate of Mugavari is not clear, his subtle, well-nuanced performance was universally praised.

Ajith's personal life has closely followed the trajectory of his professional life. He has been linked with a few women before, prominent among them being Heera. He still speaks bitterly of his affair with her. But he has now found love in the arms of Shalini, whom he met on the sets of Amarkkalam. The two were married on April 24. His latest movie Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven is a flop but lets hope its not the start of another slide. He has several projects in the pipeline including Citizen, where he is said to appear in seven different get-ups and Nanda, the second movie of Bala, the director of Sethu. Here's wishing him all the best for a happy married life and continued success at the movies.

Vijay's career graph has been markedly different from Ajith's. While Ajith's has had several ups and downs (think of a sine wave!), Vijay's has been a slow but steady rise to the top followed by a steep decline. He had the immense advantage of having a popular director as his father and so, found an easy entry into films. It was his father S.A.Chandrasekhar who introduced him as a hero in Naalaya Theerppu in 1992. But he did not stop there and continued to make several movies with his son as hero. Though these movies (in most of which Vijay was paired with Sangavi) were steeped in vulgarity and unabashedly targeted the front benchers, they achieved the important objective of keeping Vijay in the public eye.

Vijay's real break came with Vikraman's Poove Unakkaaga. The movie rewrote box-office records and Vijay, who departed from his typical roles to play a soft-spoken, lovelorn youngster, found his ticket to stardom. He perfected the role in movies like Love Today and Nilaave Vaa and gradually found increased acceptance among the fairer sex too. The peak that I mentioned before in his career was undoubtedly Fazil's Kaadhalukku Mariyaadhai. The movie was a blockbuster and the latest in a string of hits that placed Vijay in the hallowed company of Rajnikanth and Kamalahassan as far as the distributors were concerned. At that point, he could do no wrong as even Priyamudan, where he played a negative character of a youth obsessed with a woman, became a hit.

Vijay's downfall started with 1999's Endrendrum Kaadhal. His movies started falling like nine pins and he must have seen the writing on the wall with the failure of Minsaara Kannaa, which was helmed by hit director K.S.Ravikumar. His father hastened his downfall with the terrible Nenjinile. The last nail in the coffin, so to speak, was Fassil's Kannukkul Nilavu. The failure of this movie, which brought together the same team that was behind Kaadhalukku Mariyaadhai, has shaken Vijay's confidence. But his personal life has always been on an even keel and he was recently married to Sangeetha after an arranged alliance. Memories are notoriously short in Kodambakkam where an actor or actress is only as good as their last hit. With Kushi too being a disappointment at the box-office, Vijay is desperately looking for a hit for some time now to get back into the race and make things interesting for the viewers. He has several releases this year like Friends, remake of a Malayalam superhit and Priyamaanavale, reteaming him with Simran. Lets hope these push him back into the race.

Prashanth's career has been the most stable among the three. Since making his bow in Vaikaasi Porandhaachu (which incidentally, was also Deva's first movie as music director), he has always been been around. He has never scaled the heights of Ajith or Vijay but on the other hand, has never seen the lows that they have either. His entry was also easy since he was the son of yesteryear actor Thyagarajan. During his early years, hits like R.K.Selvamani's Chembaruthi were balanced by several flops like Mannavaa.

Among the three, Prashanth can claim to have worked under the most famous directors in tamil cinema. Apart from R.K.Selvamani, he has acted in films by Balu Mahendra (Vanna Vanna Pookkal), Manirathnam (Thirudaa Thirudaa) and Shankar (Jeans). It is the last of these movies, Jeans, that gave him a new image that he has stuck to till today. The clean-shaven face and soft-spoken image in that movie suited him well and his roles in following movies have basically been variations of that role. He has tasted success with Kannedhire Thondrinaal and Jodi while movies like Aasaiyil Oru Kadidham and Good Luck have been disasters. It is this kind of a balancing act that has ensured his survival and success for this long. He is attempting a change in his image with a rough and tough look in Vasanth's upcoming Appu while maintaining it in Piriyaadha Varam Vaendum, a remake of a Malayalam hit. Here's hoping for even greater successes for him.

Ofcourse these three are not the only young stars on the horizon in tamil cinema. 1999 alone saw the introduction of three new faces in Manoj (Taj Mahal), Pravin (Kannodu Kaanbadhellaam) and Ajay (Poopparikka Varugirom). 2000 has also seen three with the most promising of them being Madhavan (Udaya (Tirunelveli) and Hamsavirdhan (Maanaseega Kaadhal) are the other two). There are also the odd surprises like Vikram, who has made a resounding comeback with Sethu. But though the playing field is crowded, Ajith, Vijay and Prashanth have proven themselves well enough to be called the leaders. Having three such actors with lots of potential and healthy competition will definitely make matters more interesting for us, the viewers. So let's sit back, relax and enjoy the show!

© 2000 Balaji Balasubramaniam