Mumbai, March 13. Actor, fitness icon, and former supermodel Milind Soman believes that the era of large-scale global superstars has largely passed, further noting that today's entertainment landscape is far more fragmented than before.
Speaking to IANS in an exclusive interview, the actor noted that as audiences become more fragmented, niche stardom will become more prevalent.
"The more fragmented it all gets, the smaller the stars will be, because they are all niche. Nobody is dominating everything else anymore. There's only one Rajinikanth and one Amitabh Bachchan. That's it," he said.
The actor further discussed his early days in modeling and the continued admiration he receives across generations, Milind reflected on how the idea of iconic stardom has evolved over the years, stating that audiences today have become much more fragmented.
Speaking to IANS, Milind said, "They are worth it to people who enjoy them, but what I feel is that that entire era is over, not only in fashion modeling, not even internationally, everywhere."
"Even if you see actors, they always talk about these being the last superstars, whether it's in Hindi movies or English movies.”
The actor went on to explain that the world no longer produces universally dominant and top-notch stars like it once did.
“You will not see a star like Clint Eastwood anymore, or Arnold Schwarzenegger anymore, or Tom Cruise. Who is the next? Where are they? You look here and you say, okay, Amitabh Bachchan was there. There's nobody like Amitabh Bachchan anymore. And in every field, it's like that,” he said.
Milind also pointed out that the same pattern can be seen in music and popular culture.
“You look in music, where is Michael Jackson? Anybody to take over? Elvis Presley? Bruce Springsteen? Madonna? There's nobody who has achieved that kind of stardom, that iconic presence,” he added.
According to Milind, the shift has largely happened because a major chunk of the audiences today consume content in a much more segmented way.
“It's not there because the audience doesn't want it. It's so fragmented today that everybody likes their own genre of whatever it is."
"I listen to only this kind of music. I watch only these kind of movies. I see only that kind of series. I like only this fashion, because everything has become fragmented today,” he explained.
Talking about Milind Soman on the professional front, he will next be seen in the upcoming series Kaattaan, which also stars Vijay Sethupathi.
The show is set to premiere on the streaming platform JioHotstar from March 27.