I think “cult fan following” of some movie stars is largely a South Indian phenomenon, while it is much less in the North and almost non-existent in the other parts of the world. In South, there had been quite a few actors who had enjoyed a cult fan following among the movie going masses.
1 M.G.Ramachandran (M.G.R) : The very first name to come to one’s mind is the matinee idol turned politician M.G.Ramachandran, popularly known as MGR and affectionately called Puratchi Nadigar/Thalaivar (Revolutionary Actor/ Leader), Makkal Thilagam (Pride of the People), Ponmana Chemmal ( Great man with a Golden Heart) or simply as Vadhyar (Teacher). He very assiduously cultivated a larger than life aura around his on-screen and off - screen persona. He would never smoke or drink in any of his films, always appeared chivalrous to women, respectful to elders and the savior of the underdogs. In his real life, he used to help people liberally in their personal lives, and donate lavishly during the times of natural calamities like cyclones or floods. All these raised his status to that of a demi-god among his countless fans, many of whom used to worship his framed pictures at their homes, with reports of some people even erecting temples for him in public. He was largely instrumental in spreading the message of the Dravidian ideology among people, ultimately enabling his party DMK capture power in the state in 1967. He later fell out with M.Karunanidhi and floated his own outfit AIADMK to win elections and become the Chief Minister in 1977, and remained in the post till his death 10 years later in 1987. The poor of Tamilnadu still remember him fondly with love and respect, even after his death over three decades ago.
( M. G. Ramachandran - Wikipedia)
2 N.T.Rama Rao : Another matinee idol who had a cult fan following was the Telugu thespian, N.T.Rama Rao, whose very authentic portrayals of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna in many films made his followers equate him with these gods themselves. In those days, for a large number of people of Andhra Pradesh, after visiting the hill shrine of Tirupati to have darshan of Lord Balaji, their next halt unfailingly used to be the residence of N.T.Rama Rao situated at Habibullah Road, T.Nagar in then Madras. If the matinee idol was in station, he would invariably appear in the balcony and wave to the crowd, and the fans would go rapturous, break coconuts and lit camphor as ‘aarti’ before dispersing. NTR, as he was known, also floated his own political outfit ‘Telugu Desam Party’ (TDP) and won the elections in record short time to become the Chief Minister of the then undivided Andhra Pradesh, taking on the mighty Prime Minister Indira Gandhi still at the peak of her prowess.
3 Dr.Rajkumar : It will not be an exaggeration to say that the Kannada thespian Dr. Rajkumar, affectionately called “Nata Saarvabhouma” (Emperor among actors), Bangaradha Manushya ( Man of Gold) or simply as “Annavaru” (Elder Brother) was the heart throb of the millions of his movie fans across the state of Karnataka. An actor and a singer of very high caliber, his on screen performance and off screen persona endeared Dr.Rajkumar to his fans, rising him to the status of a cult figure. His popularity was such, that when Indira Gandhi contested the by-election for Lok Sabha from Chickmagaluru constituency in Karnataka in 1978, the Janata Party stalwarts requested Dr.Rajkumar to contest against her, as he was possibly the only person who could have defeated even Indira Gandhi, but of course he declined, stating that he had no desire to enter electoral politics. In fact, if only Annavaru had decided to follow in the footsteps of peers MGR and NTR,he too could have ended up as the Chief Minister of his state, but he chose not to. This is what one film critic of The Hindu had to say about him very recently in his review of Tamil film Sarkar:
Then there was Dr. Raj Kumar who could have swept any poll effortlessly but decided that affection and love should not be used to attain power only to be misused by kin and clan.
(Source : This 'Sarkar', hardly rules)
( Rajkumar (actor) - Wikipedia)
I can say with genuine conviction that even Rajinikanth can not match these three thespians from an earlier era in his “cult fan following”.
Though people of Kerala are by nature more sober and restrained in their fandom as compared to the other three southern states, I think actor Prem Nazir earlier, and the Mammooty- Mohan Lal duo at present enjoy a fan following which is not much different from that of Rajinikanth, though the fans are not as crazy or demonstrative. Among the Bollywood actors, I think Salman Khan enjoys some kind of a cult status.
In today’s Tamilnadu, actors Vijay and Ajith Kumar seem to have a fanatical if not cult following going by the regular cat fights the fans of these actors wage over the social media space.
Thanks for RTA.
(All images are from internet)