A closer look at the picture revealed the person as Arvindswamy. Oh God! Is he the same man who flickered the heart of the women in 90's? I mean, I remember when Thalapathy was released in 1991 and my 17 years old sister was to sit for her public exmas that year. Instead of scurrying to the library in preparation for the exams, she and her friends were busy gushing about Arvindswamy, the latest sensation to hit the Tamil cinema!
And when Roja was released the following year, even my aunt who's married with three kids was yearning for him! In fact, if I were to ask any women back then as to whom their dream guy would be, I'd bet that 9 out of 10 of them would say Arvindswamy. He sure was a dream boy back then!
To tell the truth, Arvindswamy has never excited me as an actor. In fact, having watched Roja lately, I've notived how awkward he was at some scenes (especially in song sequences) in comparison to Madhubala who was a bundle of joy to watch at!
No doubt that he has acted in a string of wonderful films, but acting wise, I find that he was at his best in only 2 films, Bombay and Marupadiyum...I thought he was fabulous in Bombay, even though I admit that Manisha is the show-stealer in the movie.
And Marupadiyum was a delight to watch, all thanks to Arvind's screen presence. I loved the scene when he proposes to Revathi in the temple, carefully threading his words hoping that she might say yes to him...and the climax scene when Revathi tells him that she has to go away from him in order to stand on her own feet. Then she asks him if he could understand her disposition, and even with the pain flickering in his eyes, he would smile and tells her that he understands her. That was classic.
How I wish that that Arvind-actor would return again. The one who would effortlessly put a smile on your face. The one who tells Madhubala "Sorry, S-O-R-R-Y...naan rombe mosemanevan illai, konjem nalavan than" (I'm not bad...I'm actually a nice person too). Thinking about the scene now, I could understand why women wanted to have a husband like him.
In fact, when I showed Arvind's latest picture to my sister (yeah, the same one who was gushing about him 18 years back), she just told me one thing..."I never knew what I saw in him". But, isn't that vindictive? Probably he was just worked up...He could have been so busy with his work that he neglected to look after himself...or probably he was just facing too much of problems in his life...his wife just divorced him and both are battling for the custody of the kids.
But whatever said and done, he is still Arvindswamy. He may look like a 50 years old man now (I know for the fact that he have not even reached 40!) with the mole above his right eyebrow being the only identifiable element in him, but does everything change when looks are gone? I mean, Michael Jackson looks pathethic today but I still think of him as the man who gave the fabulous Thriller and the amazing moonwalk dance. 
So has Arvindswamy became a different person simply because he gain weight and lost his hair? I bet that if Roja or Bombay or Marupadiyum is shown in tv today, people would still be glued to them, gushing about him, wishing to get a husband like him...and yeah...they might add a little prayer to the wishes too...please don't let him be fat and bald later on;)
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