Lights! Camera! Politics!

As you all probably know, Kollywood’s self-appointed captain Vijayakanth finally took the plunge into politics last week. He launched his new party in Madurai on September 14 with the unfurling of its flag and returned to Chennai yesterday to a rousing reception.Following the usual algorithm for party-naming in TN politics, he threw together unavoidable buzzwords like Dravida and Kazhagam to come up with the rather generic but familiar-sounding name of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam(DMDK) for his party.

Politics and cinema have been inseparable bedfellows in TamilNadu ever since Anna, Karunanidhi and MGR realized the power of cinema and decided to exploit it to further their political careers. The biggest crossover success was ofcourse MGR. His carefully-cultivated do-gooder image in cinema made him the darling of the masses and helped transform him into an unbeatable politician. Even before Iruvar’s thinly-veiled take on his life, I was aware of the myth of MGR through stories my dad narrated about him. His questioning of party accounts that led to the DMK split; his leading a procession to the governor’s office; his election victory while in the hospital (quite possibly the only instance where a candidate won an election without campaigning in person) – truly stuff that legends are made of.

The man might be dead but his name isn't. To date, any politician worth his salt tries to associate himself with MGR. Even Vijayakanth apparently entered the Madurai arena in the same van that MGR himself campaigned in during the 70s and 80s. Our current CM Jayalalitha too made it by latching herself tightly onto MGR’s wagon both literally and figuratively (remember her on his hearse?). I always wonder how many of the voters still simply vote for the irattai ilai rather than for her. She could probably be called a legend too since she has her share of stories. But unlike the stories about MGR, the ones about her usually invoke irritation rather than awe or admiration.

But the list of failures is much longer – Sivaji, Bagyaraj, Ramarajan, T.Rajendar. All made much-publicised attempts at politics and failed. There have also been the occasional S.V.Sekhar or Revathi contesting the election as independents. But the list of political aspirants from the cine-field only seems to be growing longer. Every election we see news about actors joining all political parties. And any popular actor is immediately asked about his "interest in politics" in every interview.

What is it that has made actors, automatic politicians-in-waiting? In many cases, it looks like a case of simply following the career path laid down by MGR, naively hoping for the same kind of success. Politics has now turned into the default next step for actors who are approaching the twilight of their careers. There is also the unwillingness to let go of the limelight that cinema provides them. These are people used to being fawned over, written about and mobbed when in public. So anonymity and isolation are not concepts they will be comfortable with. Being successful in politics will keep them in the public eye and unlike cinema, they could be politicians right until they take their last breath. There is always the hope that some actors enter politics out of a a genuine intent to do good; to leave their mark on history in a more permanent way than what is afforded by cinema.

Whatever the reason, Vijayakanth has proved to be a man of his word. It will be interesting to see if he manages to find the success that has eluded other actor-turned-politicians of recent times.

PS: While on the topic of actor-turned-politicians, Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced that he is gonna run for the second term as Governor of California. So he IS gonna be back!