Vijay TV has begun to telecast NVOK in US starting this weekend. My first thought on watching it was that - actor Surya stands the risk of over exposing himself in the public media space. I have seen his books in Landmark where he has written his childhood stories of struggle and other miscellaneous stories. He also used to write a weekly article in a leading Tamil magazine on his personal stories and flashback. NVOK again contains too many personal stories about him. I also saw a special program/talk given by Sivakumar where he too delves into details of Surya's childhood.
There is a tact which some very successful public figures use where they don't give-up a lot of information about them. There is a charm and mystery in not revealing too much about yourself. In essence leaving a lot to the public imagination and speculation. It is a timeless art used by people who understand the ebbs and flows of public life. This builds up an aura for a person and given them control on how to develop and sustain the aura. Surprisingly, Rajnikanth, Ilayaraja, ARR and Manirathnam employ it very well. I say surprisingly because I perceive Tamil people as having a more than average weakness (assuming any kind of person has some weakness for this) for over-the-top'ness and a penchant for "i want to tell my emotional story". Surya has chosen for some reason to live a very open-to-public life. I cant see a long-term upside for this. Especially his 'novelty' value. After a point people will get used-to or even fed-up of his personal story, he may lose the charm of discovery, and people may move on to the next new thing.
Also, the build-up given for Surya in most Vijay TV shows he appears (especially in the past 2 years) cant be good for him. Cant help thinking someone is not in control of moderating their presence on TV.
