More often than not, politics and the film world have been strange bedfellows in India.
While some stars failed to register their star power in electoral terrain, others managed to win elections. And then there were some, who just went on to become political leaders.
The best example is the stupendous success of the MGR-Jayalalitha duo in Tamil Nadu and NT Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh. While Sivaji' Ganesan gave politics a go, Annadurai and M Karunanidhi, scripted their way to political success.
Even superstar Rajinikanth lent his star status to the campaigns of various political parties. While in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections, Rajinikanth supported the DMK-TMC alliance, in 2004 Lok Sabha elections he decided to support the BJP-AIADMK alliance. However, Rajini's star power failed to bring any luck to his political picks.
While Rajini was not able to deliver a hit at the political box office, south Indian actors have comparatively found greater success in politics than their Bollywood counterparts.
Electoral success for many Bollywood stars never really translated into real political success. The real heavyweight was Amitabh Bachchan, who swore never to return to politics after the Bofors scam. However, 2007 UP assembly polls saw Amitabh return to the political fore in support of Mulayam Singh. Nevertheless, even after all his efforts, Samajwadi Party could not pin down Mayawati.
Though, film stars and politics may be a heady cocktail across the country, there seems to be a very clear divide on the consequences in the north and the south.
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| Ever wondered about the mantra to get into Tamil Nadu politics and become a successful leader? Well, if you thought it was prior experience in university politics, a criminal background or a lot of money to spend, you are probably wrong. That’s because, unlike the politicians of other states and Centre, top leaders here, strangely enough, come from Kollywood (the Tamil Nadu film industry). Out of the five top Chief Minister probables this time, three have a clear background in films (Jayalalithaa, Karunanidhi and Vijaykant), which is 60% of the total number of probable candidates for the top political post. Actors turning into successful politicians is neither unusual nor strange in Tamil Nadu, it is rather, a part of the tradition. This becomes clear from the fact that the first non-Congress Chief Minister of the state and founder of DMK, Dr C N Annadurai, used to write film scripts prior to his entry into politics. The tradition that started way back in 1960s has continued and being nourished till date. Besides Annadurai, co-founder Karunanidhi also used to write cine scripts. MG Ramachandran, who founded AIADMK in 1972, was also a very popular actor of Kollywood. Starting his career as a stage artist, Ramachandran went on to become a great actor, director and producer. Making his film debut in 1936 in Sati Leelavati, he rose to popularity with Rajakumari in 1947. In 1953, he joined DMK and later became the founder of AIADMK. MGR as he is popularly known, was the first film actor to become Chief Minister in India. The AIADMK chief and present Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa also had a successful career as an actress prior to her venture into politics. Her first Telugu film Manushulu Mamathalu made her a super star. In 1981, she joined AIADMK and went on to become the first elected woman Chief Minister in 1991. The marriage of film industry and politics in Tamil Nadu, thus, appears to be unbreakable, unique and as old as the state itself. While Bollywood is a much bigger and more successful film industry, few Bollywood actors have entered politics and fewer have had any credible political presence except Sunil Dutt, who carved a place for himself both in films and politics. The Shahanshah of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan, also failed miserably in his attempt to try his hand at politics. Therefore, the rise of Kollywood film stars as top politicians and founders of influential political parties is unique. This phenomenon, perhaps, is due to the fact that in South India, fans are crazy about films and film stars. This was never made clearer than when film star Rajkumar’s fans manhandled policemen after his death when they were stopped from having a last look of their hero. Most top film stars who joined Tamil Nadu politics have been successful with one exception being Rajnikant. He is one of the Kollywood’s highest paid actors and his fans have been calling him a super star since 1987. However, he certainly did not achieve super star status in politics for long. Though, he was instrumental in the defeat of AIADMK in 1996, his political clout waned dramatically in the subsequent elections. He, thus, continues to do films, but keeps away from politics as far as possible. Rajnikant’s not so successful political adventure has not deterred Kollywood film stars from politics. Recently, a very popular film star Vijaykant floated his political party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (in September 2005) and is all set to contest the May 08 assembly polls on 140 seats. This marriage of the film industry with politics in Tamil Nadu, thus, continues with more and more actors trying their hand at politics. Well, there is nothing wrong with the trend, until the political conversations and speeches in this southern state start turning into scripts and political slogans into songs. Well, politics does require some acting skills, doesn’t it? |
