For several weeks in the year 2000, one of world’s greatest actors, Kamal Haasan took to wearing only green. At the time he was probably the best-dressed actor in Tamil Nadu , which is not saying much but he was way beyond green shirts and green trousers. There were political reasons behind his unusual attire. His film Hey Ram, inspired by the assassination of Gandhi, had just released and there were aggressive protests by Muslims, Congress workers and the Hindu patriots of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Haasan picked the RSS for special treatment and decided to irritate them. So he began appearing in public dressed only in the colour of Islam.For long, Kamal Haasan has had a reputation for speaking his mind, by which people usually mean speaking what is on their minds. As a celebrity he is rare. Recently, when the Supreme Court upheld the ban on a traditional form of bull wrestling, greatly enraging Tamilians, including the posh who would not have known what jallikattu was ten years ago, Haasan spoke against the sport and took the side of the bulls.Days later, after it became apparent that Sasikala wished to be chief minister, and O Panneerselvam , who had until recently become a human embodiment of the word ‘interim’, revolted for reasons that are still not clear, Haasan began to publicly challenge Sasikala’s moral right to govern. He even goaded the actor R Madhavan to speak aloud, but the younger star only tweeted ambiguous messages. Haasan did get some support from other actors but the big ones chose to be cautious. The biggest of them all, Rajinikanth , who is a superhero one way or the other in all his movies, was completely silent as he usually is about everything that actually affects the society that has enriched him.Most Indian celebrities take care not to antagonise the powerful. In the modern age, as all layers of society turn more political and more vigilant, there is considerable pressure on the famous to speak up, but most of them don’t. Rahul Dravid , who is still celebrated by the suave middle class for appearing educated and conscientious, in short for being one of them, has never challenged his corrupt bosses who ran Indian cricket. He has not done that even after retirement. Sachin Tendulkar never spoke ill of the cricket board or even about betting and other issues that might embarrass the board. In my only interview with Tendulkar, he threatened to end the session if I persisted with questions on the nexus between cricket officials and betting.Celebrities are often too close to power to take the side of ordinary folks. It is as though good life holds them hostages in a paradise, just the way Sasikala holds her MLAs in a seaside resort so that they are not poached by her rival.Many giant celebrities, like Rajinikanth, derive and sustain their immensely profitable fame not through great talent but by playing to their vast and wide constituencies. They are, in reality, themselves politicians. As a result they are terrified of disappointing any sizeable section of society.Success is usually a reward for being conformist in a wide mainstream or a narrow niche, and successful people, for all their seeming specialness, are overt or covert slaves of the norms. But the central reason why celebrities do not take on the powerful is that they have too much to lose compared to the idealists who can afford to be idealists because they have nothing much. As Aamir Khan learned in 2015 when he spoke his mind about the feeling of ‘intolerance’ that was prevalent among the minorities at the time.The backlash included loss of endorsement deals. It is not a coincidence that his latest film, Dangal, is as nationalistic as a Sunny Deol film. In fact, the film plays the national anthem . Maybe Aamir Khan, too, wishes to show he is a patriot.People claim to be disappointed by the cowardice of their celebrities, but the meekness of Indian public figures is more an indictment of the general public. You are not a reassuring guardian of those who are willing to sacrifice everything to shame the powerful. Because when retribution comes, there is nothing much you can do, nothing much that you in fact do to save them. The crusaders are often left to rot alone in their battle of survival.The most potent voice against power would always emanate from the nexus between journalism and activism. Here there are people who are not economically formidable, hence have very little to lose in stating what is right. And their low-stakes courage is then widely perceived as courage. And they, too, become famous.DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.