The Politics of being a Superstar

The relationship between Indian cinema and politics is very popular and stays as an element of mysticism for many. The people of India, for long, have been dumb to choose their leaders from the silver screen. This answers the reasons for many questionable governments and ineffective leaders. One state that has managed to escape this curse is Kerala, which remains the most literate state in India. They also know to keep cinema and stars at thoughtful distance to exactly where they belong.

In reality there is a huge deviation from what actually happens to what is shown on screen. Stars have always been able to decrease this gap and sometimes successfully even blur the line of difference. Stars use the opportunities in cinema as a platform to rise up their political ladder, a phenomenon very common in Tamil cinema. Yet, there is one star icon who uses his political space to create sensation and bring footfall to theaters and increase the revenue of his films. Its superstar Rajinikanth, the undeniable thalaivar of Indian cinema.

Ever since the mid 90’s there was always news that Rajini would enter politics and he also mouthed many political dialogues in his films of those days, which were instant blockbusters. But what has kept him at bay is the clarity of Tamil people. They were clear that he should only entertain them but not rule them, as leadership is beyond the rags-to-riches rise, a theme that his films mostly dealt with. He too kept his political ambitions secret and then there was a lot of news surrounding the superstar. But then, a lot changed after the demise of the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J. Jayalalitha. We can analyse a lot from Rajini’s choice of scripts, co-stars and his active political involvement.

Recently, Rajini made an announcement confirming his political actions but we see that he is active as never before only after his political announcement. Rajini has been doing films consistently right from 2016, with constant releases from 2018. Few reports say that three back to back movie releases in two years has minted more than Rs. 1000 cr at the box office, starting from Kaala, 2.0 and Petta. The stories too seem to be more experimental and content driven, though a lot rests on his star power.

Starting with his 2018 release Kaala, the movie dealt with land issues and Dalit politics. Rajini played the role of a realistic head in his community, Dharavi, fighting for his oppressed community. The film dealt with a lot of political issues. The main antagonist was a Right wing politician, played by Hindi actor Nana Patetkar. The film was noted for its voice against saffron terror.

His science fiction 2.0, dealt with the social issue of ill-effects of using smart phones. Again the lead antagonist was played by popular Hindi star Akshay Kumar. His 2019 release Petta, one of the year’s biggest hits and a cult film, too dealt with similar themes. The lead antagonist was Nawazuddin Siddiqui, a celebrated Bollywood star. He played the role of a wicked saffron politician who is eventually killed by Petta Velan (Rajini) for his ill deeds. The major portions of the film happen in North India.

His most recent release, Darbar, a cop action-thriller also has a Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty playing the lead negative role of a Mumbai based gangster. Rajini plays a tough police who tames the gangster and this film happens in Mumbai. Many felt that the 2^nd half was more like a Hindi film than a Tamil one.

One could say the locations and involvement of lead Bollywood actors as antagonists in consecutive films as a coincidence. A wiser reason in bringing Bollywood actors could be to tap into wider markets and making films multilingual is easier with the native stars working in it. Rajini films are not new to having Bollywood actors; Thalapathi had Amrish Puri, Baba had Manisha Koirala, Enthiran had Aishwarya Rai and Kochadiyaan had Deepika Padkune and Jackie Shroff. Neither is Rajini new in the Bollywood region, he is very active and popular in other languages right from the start of his career but his choices at the brimming end of his glorious career paves way for a lot of thinking. He is also the only star whose market is increasing as he gets older; usually this is the reverse for other stars. His recent choice of co-actors could also be a reason for this; his movies tap new markets every time.

All this becomes more relevant as Rajini passed a comment saying that the ruling party tried to saffronize him, which is neither the reality nor his choice as he is seen questioning saffron terror in his recent films. One can never question his closeness with the leaders of the ruling party but that need not influence his ideologies. But many accuse him of trying to propagate right wing ideologies in Tamil Nadu. But of what good are his political propagation when he has not found a place for himself in the political sphere.