Tamil vs Hindi cinema: 2. Great actors

After looking at how they 'look', it is now on how they 'perform'.

Tamil:
Well, we have got a good bunch of highly talented actors, whose passion in acting is more from heart than for the sake of money or being the #1.

Kamalhaasan: He continues to lead and he is like the 'Sachin Tendulkar' of Tamil cinema for over a quarter century now.. Having won three national awards and given equally strong performances in movies like 'Rajaparvai', 'Pesum Padam', 'Thevar Magan', 'Mahanadhi', 'Kurudhipunal' and 'Virumandi', Kamal is hailed by most as the best actor India has seen for long time.

Rajinikanth: Acts well. He has got the pressure of pleasing his fans, which IMHO is a reason his movies are in a different league.. Entertaining nevertheless.

Vikram: He is all set to take the mantle from Kamal. One national award already and another in pipeline?

Surya: Though he started off as a typical indifferent masala hero, post-'Nandha', he continues to surprise in each movie. He is the only one who can challenge his good buddy Vikram in acting in the years to come..

Madhavan: A Manirathnam find and favorite has got to be good. Though a bit unlucky with box-offlice of late, he excels whenever given a chance to show his skills. I was amazed by his recent performance in 'Thambi'.

Dhanush: Everyone took notice of his acting in 'Kadhal kondaen'.. He was brilliant. Subsequent directors failed to bring the best out of him (except Balu). I hope we can see Dhanush at his recent best in 'Pudhupettai'.

Ajith and Vijay's aura surrounding them doesnt help their acting talents. Both had got some good roles in their early years when they were romancing heroines and longing for them. ('Aasai', 'Vaali' and 'Unnidathil ennai koduthen' for Ajith and 'Poove Unakkaga', 'Kadhalukku mariyathai' and 'Thullatha manamum thullum' for Vijay).

Apart from them, there are some talented young guns like Jeeva (Raam and Dishyum) and Simbhu (Manmathan and the first half of 'Thotti Jaya'), and Rajkiran (for character roles).

Hindi:
Khans: Aamir Khan is the most versatile actors among the Khans. His performance in the last 5 years has been good with movies like Lagaan, DCH, Mangal Pandey and RDB. Shah Rukh, the hottest star in Hindi, comes next. He is a good actor but not great, since he tends to get monotonous. His best performances came in Swades, Kal ho na ho, Devdas and Dil Se. Other 'Khans' like Saif, Salman, and Fardeen are just OK. It is ironic that among them, they have won only one national award (Saif), that too a highly controversial one.

Big A's: Amitabh is still the big fish in Bollywood. At times, he is the main hero of the movie as well ('Ek Ajnabee' was a recent example). He is a good actor, charismatic but gets only a rare movie once in a while (like 'Black') which shows his full acting talent. Abhishek is a cool actor; his best so far was in 'Yuva'. Ajay Devgan had a high in the early 2000's with successive national awards (for 'Zakhm' and 'The Legend of Bhagat Singh') but has failed to ride on the high. Akshay Kumar and Akshay Khanna do have talents but while the former has become a full-time masala actor, the latter is hardly seen nowadays.

Then there is Hrithik Roshan, who delivered a mind-blowing performance in 'Koi mil gaya' and he was good in 'Lakshya' too. The low frequency of his movies recently and his tendency to overact at times are his minuses.

Thus, in the category of heroes with terrific acting skills, Tamil heroes are ahead of their Hindi counterparts. They win this round and the score is levelled at 1-1.

Have a great weekend, y'all!! Next few days, will be pretty busy in Atlanta; I will try my best to read your comments and reply..