Chennai, July 10 (IANS) A temple for popular South Indian actress Namitha is being constructed in Tirunelveli district, 600 km from here, but she is not so enamoured of the shrine. “I am both thrilled and scared because I find a temple built in honour of a living person – especially me – a little difficult to come to terms with,” said Namitha who gave hits like “Engal Anna” and “Arjuna Arjuna” in Tamil.
Sources close to the actress said Namitha was nonplussed when her fan club was reported to have demanded money for the construction of the temple. “The initial works are completed. Soon, the stone icon of Namitha will be installed and proper consecration performed,” said S. Selvam, secretary of her fan club.
Born on May 10, 1981 as Namitha Kapoor in Surat, Gujarat, the actress has appeared in 35 movies made in three south Indian languages – Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. She also featured in an English film titled “Maya”.
When completed, it will be the second such temple in honour of an actress in the state. Earlier, a temple was built in honour of Khushboo in Tiruchirappalli district, but it was razed to the ground by irate fans following her controversial comments in 2005 about pre-marital sex to prevent incidence of AIDS.
“Though nobody seems to know exactly where the temple is supposed to have existed, I only know that its tidings brought me bad luck,” Khushboo had said in an interviews. Several cases have been filed against Khushboo in numerous cities of Tamil Nadu by self-appointed cultural vigilantes associated with Pattali Makkal Katchi and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi led by Thol Thirumavalavan and Dr. S. Ramadoss, respectively, for allegedly denigrating Indian womanhood.
Khushboo was born a Muslim in 1970 and converted to Hinduism following her marriage to director-actor-producer Sundar C.
