Tamil Nadu and its neighbour next door Andhra Pradesh have long shared a history of crossovers—that of actors making a seamless transition from silver screen to the corridors of power. N.T. Rama Rao, among others in Andhra Pradesh, and M.G. Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa in Tamil Nadu, made this crossover look effortless. And the army of followers they commanded made it look as if they were cut out for both these professions.
It is, then, no surprise that the turmoil in Tamil Nadu, following the conviction of V.K. Sasikala and the events that preceded and followed it have led to many from Kollywood expressing their dissatisfaction over the state of affairs. And the solution these stars— from the versatile Kamal Haasan to the newly found baddie Arvind Swamy—who took to the social media to pour their hearts out seemed to be hinting is the ascension of one of their own.
Doing the rounds were two names—one, none other than Superstar Rajinikanth, and the second is Ajith Kumar, someone who had a great camaraderie with Jayalalithaa. The not-so-subtle hints that the Superstar has dropped frequently in the form of filmy one liners—En vazhi thani vazhi (My way is a unique way), Naan late-aah vanthalum, latest-aah varuven meaning (Even if I come late, I will be the latest)— have done much to fan the hopes of his admirers that he would soon make his grand entry into politics, possibly by floating his own outfit.
For Ajith, the bond with Amma is seen as the factor that can catapult him to the top of the heap. He, like Rajinikanth, has been keeping everyone guessing while the conviction and the confusion that has been following continues unabated even as Sasikala began serving her sentence in Bengaluru.
It is not impossible for actors to make earnest politicos as exemplified by Jayalalithaa whose entry into politics was a reluctant one, by her own admission ("I hate politics, but MGR forced me into politics. Still I hate politics," she had once said). The trend, however, is less than healthy. For, it undermines the toils and travails of lower-rung leaders who spent years working at the grass-root level with the hope that their hard work and the resultant popularity would one day be recognised in the form of a plum post.
The stars pin their political ambitions not to their administrative expertise but to the popularity their flicks fetched them. Their do-gooder or Robin Hood images created through numerous films have already struck a chord with the fans, making it easier for them to have a Mr(Miss).Perfect image when soliciting votes. Banking on fictional images to win hearts and votes hardly seems to befit democratic values.
It's almost like asking for the moon to say it's important for people to understand the ideologies of parties and politicos they support and elect. But when stars float parties on a whim, the precious few who dedicate their lives to political ideologies that they believe would usher in changes for the greater good, are left with nothing to hold on to.
It's true that despite being a reluctant politician, Jayalalithaa proved to be an efficient administrator and a mass leader. MGR and the adulation that he enjoyed both as a leader and an actor, could be cited as an example to contend that, after all, those who made the crossover fared well. Nonetheless, citing the successful few to give leeway to the many from the silver screen who harbour political aspirations would prove to be costly for a state which has been witnessing a battle of wits and words to succeed a star whose chair seems to be evading all contenders.