Tinsel town is one busy place where newcomers have the hard task of getting themselves noticed as being unique or having that x factor. Sometimes it takes years of working in the industry and sometimes it’s just the matter of catching that big break that will land the spotlight on them. So it comes as no big wonder that passionate actors, especially female ones, tend to start very early in the industry in lead roles – maybe even in their mid-teens.
If we start naming the contenders in this list it would go on and it is hardly a new trend.
In recent times in Kollywood though, Lakshmi Menon is a good example for having started down the celebrity lane at a very tender age and also achieving start status and mass popularity before graduating high school! For goodness sakes, the actress is landing one smash hit after another and is drawing a salary of nearly Rs 1 crore now.
But it looks like not all the people watching the scenario are happy with what they are witnessing. In fact, one such individual recently decided to take legal action against this.
Against what, you may be thinking right now. Success? Fame? Hardly…
No, Muthuselvi of Tamil Nadu Makkal Katchi, filed a petition in court asking that actresses under the age of 18 years should be allowed to act in movies, as it is detrimental to their welfare. In fact, Muthuselvi claims that working at such an early age in such projects would hurt them psychologically in the long run.
Logically, it does make sense doesn’t it? Meaning, we do have Child Labour Laws in place to prevent exploitation of kids… hmmm… something to think about.
However, in this case the Court dismissed the petition filed by Muthuselvi on the grounds that the law does not have the rights to interfere with the dreams and ambitions of young actresses, regardless of their age. They may only get involved in such matters if there is an explicit breaking of current law.
So, many actresses who are working hard to stay in the industry doing something they love, it seems, will live to fight another day.
Lakshmi Menon must be thanking her lucky stars right about now!
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