Chennai Corner  

Politics And Films

It’s old hat that in Tamil Nadu the lines between politics and films are blurred. Most actors, once the box office gives them the thumbs down, turn to politics. Some like MGR and Jayalalitha have been super successful even becoming chief ministers and Vijayakanth, whose goal it is to be CM, seems to be getting there as his DMDK’s vote strength (8.33 per cent in its maiden election in 2006 assembly and 10.45 per cent in 2009 Lok Sabha) shows. Others like Sarath Kumar straddle both cinema and politics, starting parties, hoping to convert their fans into voters. Karthik and many others are still struggling — finding out the hard way that being a much loved star does not make you a charismatic politician and that it’s not enough to be of a certain caste to get votes from the community unless you bring more to the table.

Recently Karthik's Agila Indiya Naadalum Makkal Katch (AINKMK) tied up with the AIADMK alliance but seat talks floundered after amma gave him one seat. Kartik has decided to strike out on his own hoping to catch thevar votes for his party.

Actor R Sarathkumar, who is his party’s candidate from Tenkasi (Tirunelveli district), says, “I’ve already cut down on my shoots since I decided to contest. I will not run away from the constituency after the polls.” As an aside, Jayalalitha who changed her constituency from Andipatti (Theni district) to Srirangam gave this lame excuse for doing so: Andipatti was too remote to reach but Srirangam will be accessible and she will serve her constituents well. This from a woman who flies by helicopter often to her remote Kodanadu estate in the Nilgiri hills!

Sarathkumar joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in 1996 and contested as its candidate from the Tirunelveli Loksabha Constituency in 1998 but lost. He was sent to the Rajya Sabha in 2002, but left the DMK in 2006 over differences with the Karunanidhi clan. That year he and his wife Radhika joined the AIADMK and campaigned for it. But Radhika got thrown out by amma later in the same year for anti-party activities and a month later he too quit the party saying that work in Kollywood took up all his time. But by August 2007, he started the Akila Indiya Samathuva Makkal Katchi (AISMK) saying his party would bring back Kamaraj Rule in the state. Ironically, he is aligned now with the AIADMK which is fighting against the Congress (in alliance with the DMK) which too harps on bringing back Kamaraj Rule to the state!

But a section of his fans are unhappy that his party which is contesting two seats is aligned with the AIADMK. Not surprising, because in his role as President of the South Indian Film Artistes' Association, he organizes Kollywood events (attended frequently by Karunanidhi). Besides, Radhika, an actress is a successful TV producer and her serials are aired on Sun TV, owned by the Marans who are grand nephews of Karunanidhi.

Mind It

This election, meeting Rajnikanth seems like a good luck charm for the DMK. Or perhaps, hobbled by the 2G scam, the DMK candidates feel he can use his “superhuman power” as demonstrated in his film Robot to tell the AIADMK to “mind it.” Whatever the reason, one thing is on record - that quite a procession, including deputy CM MK Stalin, made its way to Rajnikanth’s Poes Garden residence after the buzz over his meeting with AIADMK chief Jayalalitha’s poll adviser Cho Ramaswamy. Sources say that what transpired in that meeting was that Rajni asked for creative inputs for his forthcoming film Rana that his daughter Soundarya will produce. But Cho does have a propensity for mischief and therefore led the DMK to believe his meeting with Rajnikanth was politically significant.

First up was DMK’s candidate for the Thousand Lights constituency Hassan Mohammed Jinnah. Considering that the star is a voter in that constituency, Jinnah’s call and handing over of the DMK’s manifesto makes sense. But a few days later, Stalin, who abdicated Thousand Lights and fled to Kolathur, a newly carved out assembly constituency, hoping the 2G scam effect will spare him in this rural area (although it is one of Chennai’s 16 assembly constituencies), dropped in to see Rajni. Then followed the DMK South Chennai district secretary, J Anbazhagan and the latest is M Shivalinga, the BJP candidate for Thousand Lights assembly constituency.

Rajnikanth (his fan clubs in TN alone have more than five lakh members) is yet to live down his infamous statement during the 1996 election that even God cannot save TN if the AIADMK comes back to power (he had actively campaigned for the DMK-Tamil Maanila Congress then). It not only had led to amma’s humiliating defeat but also to Rajni stubbornly keeping out of politics apparently in disillusionment over DMK’s political moves after that. But in every election since then, parties have wooed him so he can be their mascot.

Vijay For Amma?

Unlike Rajni, the Ilaya Thalapathi (young commander) aka Vijay is very clear about his political intentions and has said so: “I will enter politics at an appropriate time.” Not yet though for this 38-year-old actor who rocked the box office recently (after four duds back to back) and that has probably made him decide to put his political ambitions on hold. This election, though, this Ilaya Thalapathi is going to root for the AIADMK to take on the Thalapathi (commander) better known as MK Stalin who is DMK patriarch Karunanidhi’s political heir.

Vijay signalled his decision to take on a political avatar about a year ago when he converted his fan base (believed to be 23 lakhs mostly consisting of youth who mimic his dance moves and repeat his punchy dialogues) into the Ilaya Thalapathi Vijay Makkal Iyakkam. A flag was also released. Vijay’s sights are set on the CM’s chair like actor-turned-DMDK chief Vijayakanth, but for the moment Jayalalitha is going to benefit with him in her corner. Suresh, a cab-driver in Thulakapatti near Thanjavur, told me during a recent tour: “My vote will go to the party that Vijay tells me to vote for.” Many, particularly the young are going to do likewise because the Ilaya Thalapathi is their icon. In fact the youth in the districts also support Vijaykanth and many still vote blindly for the AIADMK because of MGR. What must also be stated, however, is that a section of Vijay’s fan club in Salem decided to close it down against the actor’s support to the AIADMK.

Vijay’s moves over the last several months, guided by his father producer-director S A Chandrasekhar, lead clearly to a political route for this actor. His meeting with Rahul Gandhi started talk of his being wooed into the Youth Congress. But that dissipated. Then came a string of four flops in a row indicating his film career was finished. But a spat with Udhayanidhi Stalin, the producer-son of Stalin, who is believed to have used his clout to delay the release of Kaavalan, again set off speculation. The film was finally released and declared a hit and Vijay’s film career once again hit the stratosphere. But his father kept the political buzz around his son bubbling by meeting AIADMK chief Jayalalitha several times in the run-up to the elections. The rumour was that since the Karunanidhi clan was messing with him he turned to Jayalalitha for protection.

Not Like Acting

His father’s meeting last Sunday in Trichy where Amma was campaigning has now brought everything out into the open. Chandrasekhar says of the Iyakkam’s decision to back Amma: “This decision was made purely for societal concerns and not because Vijay’s film Kaavalan faced hurdles during its release allegedly from the ruling government.” So the Iyyakkam will be out there supporting the AIADMK-alliance.

But Vijay needs to suck it up if he thinks politics is going to be as easy as adulation from fan clubs. His meeting in February at Nagapattinam, in support of fishermen who were outraged by the Sri Lankan government’s action when they allegedly strayed into international waters, is an example of how Vijay’s approach should be more giving and less arrogant.

The meeting organized by the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam went out of hand because the fans surged towards the dais leading to a lathicharge. Then the public address system failed even as Vijay was speaking, leading him to abandon his speech and stomping off abruptly. His aides rushed to his car, mollified him and brought him back and reluctantly he spoke again but not a word about fishermen. “I’ve not come on behalf of any political party,” he said before leaving. The meeting which was supposed to be a big bang ended with a whimper.