Major Sunderajan, a great character actor, recently remarked that these days 'acting has very much been diluted' . I couldn't agree with him more. Most of the present day actors , with an exception of Kamal and Rajini (the only two who did not waste what Balachander taught them ) seem to have contributed nothing to the acting profession. We see occasional traces of talent in the works of Sathyaraj, Prabhu and Karthik. Thats all. What about the younger stars? I did a little bit of an analysis of my own. What about the actresses, some of you may ask. Well, almost none of them are even capable of using their own voice, which means they are only three-quarters an actress and does not deserve an analysis. Sorry, but here goes...

The promising star. The film Valee proved his versatility, especially the unforgettable mute character. You could read his face. There, lays his only weakness. Witness how he scores in scenes those does not require the usage of his own voice, which includes all the song sequences. What he lacks is proper voice projection. I recall a scene in Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven where he was supposed to deliver some patriotic lines to his fellow soldiers. His face was expressive, but if you close your eyes you might think that he is talking to his girlfriend. There you go Ajith. Keep up the good job and do something about your voice. For all you know, you might be the next Kamal Hassan.

It staggers me to learn that Prasanth has been around more than ten years. What made my jaw drop was not his ability to sustain his market for that long time, but rather his achievement which is dismal in comparison to the opportunity for career development offered for such a long time. The only time I recall him not being himself was in Thiruda Thiruda. He showed some promises up to the time when he did Jeans. Suddenly, he got comfortable with that image and character and got stuck with it till today. He seemed to be preaching the value of love in almost all his film ever since. Bad choice of roles? Or are they simply all he could manage? This is one guy with mysterious future. Not even his father can help him if he is going to go on doing those romantic roles that he is adamant in projecting.

Vijay came under the tutelage of his father, S.A. Chandrasekhar, a director. Since then Vijay had been very dependent on others for the success of his films. Kathalukku Mariyathai owed very much to its director Fazil; Kushi was a success due to the presence of Jyothika (current darling of the mass) and Deva (current darling of the musically illiterate mass). He is not much of an actor. His acting credibility does not go beyond the moments where he attempts to imitate Kamal and neither does it helps when his dancing routine has nothing to do with the tempo of the song. What I see in him is a floundering star wannabe who might not make it for long. I wish him all the luck.

Its a fact that everybody knows. He is not much of an actor, but a great dancer. Personally I have some affection for this guy. Prabhu Deva, like Rajini and Sathyaraj, if fed with a poor line, is always capable of coming out with something extra. He possesses one element that none of the other young stars do - a great sense of humour. He clicks beautifully in scenes that requires humour and also blends in with the crowd, which consists of comedians like Vivek and Vadivelu. Why did Kamal pick him for Kathala Kathala then if not for that particular quality? I liked his performance in Yezhayin Sirippinile, a role which none of the above youngsters could have pulled convincingly. His hustling amidst the heat and the crowd at the bus station still rings in my ear; "Kumbakonam! Mayavaram! Sithambaram! Nagoo! Nagoo! Nagoo! Nagapattinam!" I certainly am expecting more miracles from this young man.

He has a legend for a father. So do Prabhu and Karthik. Both of them are still having a tough time trying to match their respective fathers performance, and nor can they top Kamal and Rajini. Suria lacks presence (maybe his height) and his delivery can, at times, be monotonous. He really has to do a lot to improve himself. He seems to have done so with his dancing, but is that enough? We shall see.

Another actors son. He is certainly a better actor than Vijay and Prasanth combined. He might actually do well, if at all he is not offered the same type of role. Again, too early to tell.

His role in Sethu is actor proof, which means that the character is so well defined it is so difficult to fail in playing it. He was paired with Ajith in Ullasam and proved his mettle then, though the film disappointed. His track record is still very low and the body of work is unimpressive. He is definitely much better than all of the above combined and certainly deserves much better attention. Who knows, he might give Ajith a run for his money.

I saw clips of his Ennavale and was really impressed. In fact, he looked convincing in that film rather than Alai Payuthe. In the latter, both him and Shalini played 'who can rattle off most words in less time game', much in Maniratnam's tradition. Here he looks relaxed and comfortable and exuded positive involvement in comedy scene. He might actually do very well, again if he chooses his role well.