While veteran actor Sivakumar is well-known for his work in cinema and for his mythology infused speeches, the actor gained an exclusive spot under the limelight for his aversion towards selfies. The actor was caught on two separate occasions swatting away mobile phones from the hands of over-enthusiastic fans who trailed him to click selfies. Sivakumar was widely criticised for his behaviour.
His two sons, actors Suriya and Karthi, did not comment on the issue. However, Karthi recently broke his silence on the issue when actor Kasthuri brought up the topic at an event. The exchange took place on stage during the audio launch of director KC Sundaram’s upcoming film July Kaatril. Kasthuri, who was hosting the launch, invited actor Karthi on stage and proceeded to click a selfie with the actor while joking, “Now is a good time to click a selfie because your father is not around.”
Following an awkward few seconds, Karthi turned away from her phone, saying that there was no need to bring up the topic and proceeded to explain how disrespectful selfies have become. “There’s just no respect, no one asks for permission anymore. Imagine flashing these mobile phone cameras on someone's face who might have a migraine. It is saddening to know that we’ve come to a point where there’s just no respect,” he said.
Kasthuri, who later came up on stage, thanked Karthi for his “short and sweet” speech and also added that fans tend to not know their boundaries with celebrities. Invasion of privacy is more of a problem for women actors, she added. She also explained to Karthi that the reason she brought up the topic was to only create a “moment” on stage.
In October last year, a video of actor Sivakumar angrily slapping away a phone from a young man’s hand at an event went viral. Soon after, the actor issued a video apology requesting fans to also respect an actor’s private space. In February this year, the actor was once again caught on camera doing the same to another fan who followed him with a phone for clicking a selfie.