Box Office Politics
Vijay, 36, who even confessed to clearing his schedule including cancelling his shooting to rush to Delhi when Rahul called him, has much to learn from Rajnikanth who is on the wrong side of 50. For years, the latter has got away with being namby pamby about his political intentions. Or the other way of looking at it is that Rajnikanth has learnt from the blunders of others -- look at megastar, Chiranjeevi, whose Telangana Praja Rajyam is sinking faster than a dud at the box office. He has also learnt from his own mistakes, for example, his solidarity with TN when the state embarked on a confrontationist path with Karnataka last year during the Hoganekkal controversy. Kannada chauvinists threatened to ban his film Kuselan till he delivered an abject apology. It’s another matter that Kuselan was not box office material. Rajni’s earlier forays into politics have also taught him to be circumspect even if his faithful fans have labelled him “confused” in their frustration. So when Rahul said all those who were not terrorists or criminals were welcome in the Congress, and the last time he looked, Rajnikanth was not one, it was a generous invitation by any standards. But since Rajni knows which side his bread is buttered (and is even slathered with jam), all he said was, “I thank Rahul Gandhi for the invite. As of now, I don’t have any plans to step into politics.” Notice that although another actor, Prabhu’s name came up as a potential Congressman, there was no hysteria? When you don’t make the box office register jingle, you don’t make waves in politics either.
Cops and footballs
Home minister P Chidambaram addressing Directors General of Police this week took objection to politicians treating them like footballs. But police officers treat their subordinates like footballs and even like menials sometimes. The recent case of the mysterious death of a state armed reserve police constable P Muralinath is an example. Muralinath was deputed by his Hyderabad-based boss, Vivek Dube, chief of Octopus (Andhra Pradesh’s anti-terror wing), to the Noida-based family of Dube to work as a driver. He ended up dead and his family claims Muralinath was harassed. Closer home, in Thiruvanamallai, police engaged for security duties because Deputy CM Stalin was coming for the family wedding of Arni MLA R Sivanandham last month ended up as waiters at the marriage feast of the legislator! Apparently, nearly 200 of them, including 40 women constables, were directed by their seniors to serve food. The irony was that it was a “self-respect marriage” – the weddings preferred by the so-called rationalists in the DMK. The first day the cops were in uniform and had to carry vessels of sambar and rice back and forth while serving, but on the next day they were asked to be waiters but in civilian clothes. “The ultimate humiliation was that the DMK cadre treated us like coolies in the presence of our bosses,” said a constable. Tut, tut!