Rukmini Vasanth: For the last couple of months, actresses Rukmini Vasanth and Kalyani Priyadarshan are the sweethearts of social media. Both were seen filling up pivotal roles in recently released blockbusters, out of which Kalyani even starred in an industry-level hit. Thus, everything from edits to memes is flooding social media praising their performances. While surely their performances deserve some credit, many have begun to question whether the noise created around them truly holds any organic substance.

The Social Media Cycle of Hype

Social media is all about trends, and this does not necessarily mean genuine appreciation for actors or any other project. The moment a person or project starts trending, hype is magnified by the internet with very little sober deliberation. These meme pages, fan accounts, and influencer handles produce post after post of similar content, each trying to cash in on the visibility. What starts as admiration morphs almost instantly into saturation with certain clips, certain audio tracks, and certain “wife material” captions, which dilute the very charm that had brought the attraction in the first place.

PR, Influence, and Visibility

Not all of the hype, mind you, happens organically. Paid promotions, structured PR campaigns, and influencer tie-ups also often play a major role in certain actors being put out into the spotlight. It is no longer about who deserves attention; it is about who markets better. Sometimes the memes, reels, and “fan trends” are coordinated efforts to build or maintain an online presence for a particular actor.

When Popularity Turns Performative

Take for example recent events surrounding Kayadu Lohar from Dragon. She has barely done half a Tamil movie, but the attention she has gained online, much before she was pulled into irrelevant controversies, was all because of trending. This is the very cycle of creating forced virality which shows how playfully the popularity could be created on social media overnight.

Rukmini and Kalyani are talented, no doubt. Yet, these days, ‘algorithm-directed fame’ makes sincere praise often find itself snared in complementary caricatures.

Also Read: Kareena Kapoor Claims She Never Did Intimate Scenes

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