Actor Prakash Raj recently said that he did not want to be the face of any party, because he would then have to answer for its past. That could well be why actor Kamal Haasan is treading a new path. While Haasan did announce his entry into politics at THE WEEK’s Town Hall event in Chennai on November 4, he deftly sidestepped host Barkha Dutt’s pointed questions about specific plans. Now, much has come out, following a string of events on his birthday, November 7.
Interestingly, Raj had set the cat among the pigeons when he said, “Film actors becoming leaders is a disaster for my country”. The jab was regarded to be aimed at Haasan. Later, Raj clarified that what he meant was that actors should not enter politics just because they are popular. “They should come with a clear perception of the issues facing the country and win the trust of the people,” he said. “And, we should not vote as fans. But, as responsible citizens.”
A fan base is definitely the force behind every actor’s political career, and Haasan is no different in that regard. On his birthday, he called off all celebrations and visited places where his fan club, Narpani Iyakkam (welfare club), was running medical camps and aid posts for the flood-affected. At Chennai’s Madambakkam lake, he flagged off the club’s initiative to clean 25 lakes across Tamil Nadu.
Then came Maiam Whistle, the app. The app itself has a clean interface. The initial window collects names, mobile numbers and email IDs. You can specify if you would like to be a candidate or just a voter. Then, you must pick one of 22 areas of expertise, ranging from agriculture to commercial taxes and revenue. Two areas are designated special services—bribery and corruption control, and encroachment clearance.
The Beta version of the app is out, and, not surprisingly, it is available only on Google Play. The app description says it will help citizens communicate problems to leaders, connect “volunteers, supporters and followers”, and crowdsource a name for Haasan’s party. The write-up ends with a punchy line: “You don’t have to wait for the doors to open. They are already open!”
App and birthday apart, Haasan was in the news when BJP MP and Bajrang Dal founder Vinay Katiyar called him mentally unsound. Then, a Muslim youth leader from Aligarh offered Rs 25,000 to anyone who would blacken Haasan’s face. The leader said the actor was “trying to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims”.
The most likes, perhaps, came for Haasan’s defence of Kajol. On the sidelines of the Kolkata International Film Festival, the actor posed for a photo with Haasan and Amitabh Bachchan. She later tweeted it and called it a selfie. When the Twitterati trolled her for it, Haasan rushed to the damsel’s defence. Quite the hero (or politician)!
