Chennai’s fan males

Although he insists that his position is voluntary, Suryanarayanan works nominally on Vikram’s personal payroll; one member of the club says that Vikram provides Suryanarayanan with a car and pays for his mobile phone bills. For a couple of hours every day, Suryanarayanan comes into the office and potters around. “A lot of letters come in, asking for photos, so I respond to those,” he says. “Sometimes, fans from towns like Trichy or Kanyakumari land up, not even knowing if Vikram is in town, just taking a chance to meet him. So I have to make them happy somehow.”

With the air of one narrating a parable, Suryanarayanan tells the story of a fan who recently visited Chennai from Tirupur with a single intent. “He came just to show his support to Vikram by painting the outer compound walls of the office,” he says. The vivid murals, still glowing from the freshness of their paint, depict Vikram in assorted cinematic poses, and Suryanarayanan gazes upon them with undisguised, almost paternal pride. “Aren’t they terrific?”