Thevar Magan to Ajith’s macho veshti look in Veeram

The ubiquitous veshti might have all but disappeared from everyday life in urban Chennai, but it has made periodic comebacks on the silver screen, courtesy our actors. From Kamal’s suave character in Thevar Magan to Ajith’s macho veshti look in Veeram — it might seem like the five-yard cloth never went out of style. Well, on screen anyway.

The garment was earlier popularised by actor Raj Kiran, with his veshti avatars mostly accompanied by indignant thigh-slapping and some unappetising chicken-eating. That might not have appealed to the younger audience but Rajini’s smooth veshti-sattai-angavastram look in Yejaman certainly did. The Superstar is credited with bringing veshti back into the mainstream, even kicking up its popularity notch.

And then Mamooty’s veshti-wearing don act in Thalapathy happened. Young women still swoon over the Malayali actor’s character as the movie remains, to this day, one of Gen Y’s all time favourites. Maybe the veshti had a little something to do with that?

Closer to the 21st century, young actors like Vijay and Ajith have experimented with the veshti in their movies. Even Surya, who has played a lot of the urban young man roles in his career, sported a silk veshti and sattai in Singam 2. While we imagine it might not have been all that comfortable fending off baddies in an unstitched piece of cloth, he certainly did look dashing while doing it.

Vijay’s veshti act in Azhagiya Tamizh Magan grabbed a lot of eyeballs, while Ajith’s role in Attagasam as a fearless don raised a lot of female eyebrows. The actor had not been seen in such an avatar till then and the veshti certainly upped Ajith’s desireability quotient. In his promotions for Veeram too, his veshti (and his now trademark salt and pepper locks) drew a lot of giggles and sighs from the female audience.

Now, if that isn’t enough motivation for the men to pick up the veshti again, what else will be?