Kannada actor and director Rishab Shetty is garnering acclaim and praise for his latest film, Kantara Chapter 1, which is breaking records every day.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, the Kannada star was asked to comment on the hero worship phenomenon that reaches another level when it comes to cinephiles down south. There are temples of MG Ramachandran and life-size cut-outs of Rajinikanth are offered milk whenever the Tamil superstar's movie hits the theatres.
Forty-one people died and at least 60 were injured in the stampede during Tamil actor Vijay's political rally in Karur on September 27. According to the state police, a crowd of nearly 30,000 people gathered at a venue with a capacity of about 10,000. Security guidelines were also violated, and proper arrangements for food and drinking water were missing - which contributed to the tragedy, added the police.
Asked to weigh in on the role of fan craze and hero worship in the stampede in Karur during Vijay's TVK rally, Rishab Shetty told NDTV, "If we like a hero or his character, we do hero worship. How can I comment on that (the stampede)? It's unfortunate when these accidents happen, around 40 people died there".
The actor-filmmaker late said one person cannot be held accountable for an accident like the Karur tragedy.
"I don't think it could be one person's mistake, maybe it was a collective mistake made by many. Maybe it could have been controlled. That's why we call it an accident. It was not intentional. We should take precautions... But who will control a mob? How can I comment on that? We can easily blame the police or government, they also have a responsibility. But sometimes they will also have trouble (controlling the crowd)" he added.
A day after the incident, Vijay announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for each victim's family and Rs 2 lakh for the injured. His statewide tour was also suspended.
On Tuesday, Vijay spoke to the families of the people who died in a stampede during the rally over a video call. According to officials, he has spoken to at least five families as of now. During the interaction, Vijay consoled the families and promised them that he would visit Karur soon.
