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HomeOpinionKamal Haasan is in politics to occupy space left behind by Jayalalithaa

Kamal Haasan is in politics to occupy space left behind by Jayalalithaa

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Time will tell if Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth will join hands to create a third front. But TN politics will remain regional; BJP & Congress won’t get in.

Will Kamal Haasan be a southern Arvind Kejriwal? Or a celluloid Raj Thackeray from Tamil Nadu? Or like Imran Khan in Pakistan? Or simply a political reincarnation of matinee idols M.G. Ramachandran and J. Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu?

Months after Jayalalithaa passed away in December last year, mega star Rajinikanth had also announced his desire to enter politics. In fact, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan had had a sort of summit meeting too, but the latter seems to have upstaged the former.

The BJP’s adaptation of Machiavellian tactics, plagiarised by party president Amit Shah, was in full swing to appropriate Rajinikanth. But, like his on-screen persona, Rajinikanth proved to be a far superior and supple acrobat. Kamal Haasan, too, has shown he has trapeze skills even when suspended in air, as it were.

Kamal has entered the turbulent waters of Tamil Nadu politics with a clear intention – to capture the space vacated by Jayalalithaa’s death. Time will tell whether he and Rajinikanth will form a third front to challenge the AIADMK-DMK binary, or if Rajinikanth will withdraw, or join the DMK or the BJP.

Primacy of Tamil identity

Narendra Modi’s surprise meeting with DMK supremo M. Karunanidhi and working president M.K. Stalin has violently churned the political waters in Chennai. But one thing looks sure – there will be no place for the BJP or the Congress in the state. Tamil Nadu politics will essentially remain regional, and in Tamil.

The class of political commentators generally chooses not to recall uncomfortable events, whether historical or recent. Like in Jammu and Kashmir, the demand for more autonomy was raised vociferously in Tamil Nadu in the sixties. In several Tamil language conferences, Karunanidhi and other leaders have often equated Tamil identity as a manifestation of a separate nation (like Catalonia, Scotland, or Quebec).

Amit Shah had perhaps thought that he would be able to buy, bully, or blackmail Jayalalithaa’s orphaned flock. After all, Modi is desperate to increase the NDA’s tally in the Rajya Sabha. But the Gujarati Machiavelli failed to bring AIADMK MPs and MLAs together, and then under the NDA umbrella.

Tamil Nadu, Bengal, and the film-politics link

The Tamil and Bengali political class has one thing common: its distrust of Delhi. In the sixties, Tamilians burnt railway stations and public property as they went on rampage against the imposition of Hindi (also termed ‘Hindi imperialism’). Even now, that landmine is underfoot.

The case in Bengal is similar. The CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress have both thrived on anti-Delhi politics, and continue to be suspicious of central rule. Just as Tamil Nadu has not given political space to the Congress and the BJP, neither has Bengal for decades.

The difference is that Bengali film stars do not enter politics with same aplomb as Tamil stars do. Tamil Nadu politics has been dominated by Tollywood for nearly five decades. MGR was a five-star hero, while Karunanidhi was a writer in the film industry. Jayalalithaa was MGR’s constant companion on-screen and off-screen, and heir. Even C.N. Annadurai, the guiding light for both the DMK and the AIADMK, was a writer, playwright, screenwriter, and poet, in addition to being an eloquent speaker.

The Hindi film industry tried hard to replicate the Tamil Nadu model. Amitabh Bachchan was elected to the Lok Sabha with the blessings of Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress in 1984; Rajesh Khanna, Govinda, and Raj Babbar were all Congress MPs. Vinod Khanna, Shatrughan Sinha, Dharmendra, and Hema Malini were multiple-time BJP MPs. Dilip Kumar, Nargis, Rekha, and Jaya Bachchan all became Rajya Sabha members, whether through nomination or election.

But with the exception of Sinha and Khanna, both ministers in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, and Sunil Dutt, a Union MoS under Manmohan Singh, most of these actors remained on the fringe. A film career, with all its glitz, does not make great political leaders, except in Tamil Nadu (and to an extent in Andhra Pradesh).

Kamal’s brand of politics

Coming back to Kamal Haasan, what will be his genre of politics? In his first press conference, he said he was against all extremism – Hindu, Muslim, or anybody else. He clarified that he had not used the term “Hindu terror”. But he has sharply criticised the politics and economics (demonetisation) of Narendra Modi, and distanced himself from the BJP. He has, in fact, shown a soft corner for Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party’s brand of politics.

The rather simplistic (or naive) vision he gave in that press conference was that he was against corruption, violence, and fanaticism. He did not, even remotely, make a comment on the Congress or Rahul Gandhi. He did not refer to Annadurai or the Dravidian movement.

The only icons for him, he said, were Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi – both light years removed from power politics.

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8 COMMENTS

  1. Kamalhassan is a great actor. Politicians need presentation skills, public communication; bringing change in Public . DMK has a strong front with Mr. Stalin and his daughter Kannimozhi. AIADMK has charming ministers but lack that all important gift of speech. Modi has it. Mr. Ganesan in BJP has effective thought process in Tamil when a question is asked. Mr. Vijaykanth was such an effective third party but has some slurry speech now. Tamilnadu has always been a theatre stage of politicians who hog the limelight and media light everyday. A new Drama everyday.
    What is needed today is making the citizen aware of their right to question right.

  2. Jayalalitha is jayalalitha nothing good for TN, she did all for her and for her name “AMMA”. Mr.Kamal will do the change for TN, in his governance iam sure corruption and violence and extremism will vanish ( if people support him), if people are against good leader like Mr. Kamal, Tamil nadu will be the same.

  3. Lop sided views. Kamal with his Communist approch can never be successful.tamilians are very good fearing and will not follow Kamal approch. He should learn a lesson from great actor sivaji ganesan who could not succeed in politics. Good actor is different from good politician

  4. Actors again acting their way into the political arena of Tamil Nadu is sad and unforgivable. I thought with Jaya’s passing away Tamil Nadu will be rid of a half century long curse in being ruled, and mismanaged by the cinema industry. Trust if these men are patriots they should avoid politicking henceforth rather than misuse their demi god status!

  5. Nonsense. Jayalalitha is jayalalitha and nobody can replace her. On the other hand, there is no dawn to the tamilnadu. Nobody can save tamilnadu from the clutches of pseudo-politicians. God save tamilnadu.

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