Yes, we Indians do hero-worship our stars. Nay, not just hero-worship, actually see them as gods.
We at HindustanTimes.com did a special package on whether Indians indeed thought of their stars as gods. We asked our surfers if their favourite star was indeed godlike.
"Well, it is customary that anything powerful and famous is worshipped in India as God-incarnate. It is ridiculous that it still exists in modern society," Ekram Siddique from Silver Spring, US said.
Zaki from Azamgarh, UP felt it was truer of South India than North India. Here's how he reasoned it.
"I think this practice to see favourite star like a god only happens in South India. It's not in practice in the North. Actually people are still living in dark ages and when they find what they want to see in the real word -- that their favourite star fights on the screen fighting against all evils. They then think he or she is like god."
Srinivasan from Stockholm, Sweden thought it had something to do with the basic tenets of Hinduism.
"The concept of Hinduism is the source of many problems. God is in human soul and worship another person. This has given basis for fake swamijis and hero worship. Similarly Bhiksha, has given legitimacy for begging in the society. Advocating patience, has given rise to a dumb society. There are many, many more things. Being a Hindu, I feel these should be banned. Only then a vibrant society will flourish in the future."
{{/usCountry}}"The concept of Hinduism is the source of many problems. God is in human soul and worship another person. This has given basis for fake swamijis and hero worship. Similarly Bhiksha, has given legitimacy for begging in the society. Advocating patience, has given rise to a dumb society. There are many, many more things. Being a Hindu, I feel these should be banned. Only then a vibrant society will flourish in the future."
{{/usCountry}}Kavitha from Toronto, Canada felt that this was the sad reality. She felt ordinary Indians did see them as a panacea for all ills.
"It is sad to say that majority of Indian fans don't know how to draw the lines between reality and illusion. Especially, the unfortunate and undereducated and even the educated think that the film stars are 'Gods', when they are not.
"Film and television are just an entertainment medium. People who adorn film stars think that they can perform miracles, cure illness and help them out of debt which is not true."
There were those who stoutly refuted the claim. And if at all they were being treated as one, it had more to do with ignorance and high rate of illiteracy in India.
Here's how Basha from Chennai went.
"What nonsense are you talking about? How can a movie star be compared to the Almighty? Well those who think or imagine them as gods are just illiterate, uncultured, uncivilised people."
Disclaimer
All views and opinions presented in this article are solely those of the surfers and do not necessarily represent those of HindustanTimes.com.