Can Rajini, Kamal pull off an MGR, turn fans towards poll booths? 

‘MGR Was Unquestioned Leader; Today Actors Need To Be Accessible To Gain Trust Of Cadres’

Jaya.Menon@timesgroup.com   10.04.2018

On March 10, 2018, small-time businessman and Kamal Haasan fan ‘Aanandham’ Rajesh, 38, was in for a big surprise. Crowds had gathered on the street near the Perundurai bus stand in Erode district as the actor’s convoy arrived with a flourish. Kamal Haasan emerged through the open rooftop of his car. “He suddenly extended his hand to me and asked me to hoist the Makkal Needhi Maiam flag. It was an emotional moment for me,” said Rajesh, touched by Kamal’s gesture.

Dravidian politics has come a long way. Charisma of politicians is not any more about inaccessibility, and, wooing cadres to build a party is a harder challenge. With actors and political novices like Kamal and Rajinikanth taking the plunge into TN politics which has well-entrenched parties and seasoned politicians, the trick is to do the act differently. “I told my fans in Perundurai that I may have designed the flag, but it is up to them to ensure that it flies with dignity,” said Kamal.

In October 1972, when matinee idol M G Ramachandran was expelled from the DMK, neither party chief M Karunanidhi nor MGR could have predicted the dramatic impact of his political entry. Since then, MGR’s path-breaking experiment in restructuring his fan clubs into a political party base has inspired many including N T Rama Rao, Vijayakanth and Chiranjeevi.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, hero-worshipping fans dared not question celluloid heroism. Today, with intense public pro-activism, social media and acute disillusionment, political forays could prove a daunting task for Kamal and Rajinikanth. This is exactly why both the actors are following a structured approach towards transforming their fan clubs into a cadre base, their target being the youth at the grassroots.

Kamal says he laid the base for a political party three decades ago, channelising his fan clubs into social work. A team of professionals and experts from various fields are helping him build his party.

With his plan yet to be unveiled, Rajinikanth, who announced his political foray recently, has appointed a core team of office bearers to structure his fan clubs in the districts. District-wise meetings are being held to spot talent and enlist them as office bearers of fan clubs. In every district, the clubs are headed by a secretary, who is aided by office bearers in the smooth transition of clubs into a political party.

“MGR fans were politically aware that he did not really have the need to organise them,” said author and MGR biographer R Kannan. On October 19, 1972, MGR could announce that the ‘20,000’ fan clubs (there were 18,000 DMK units and so the fan clubs had to be higher) had turned into the ADMK.

“After the 1971 assembly election and its good showing, DMK functionaries did not give permission to cadres to sign up as members of MGR fan clubs; instead they recommended that cadres join Karunanidhi’s son M K Muthu’s fan club,” said journalist Sudhangan.

NTR’s decision to enter the public sphere was sudden, pointed out Kannan. His 600 fan clubs became the ‘yuva sena’ (youth force), distributing the Telugu Desam manifesto that sang the prime slogan of ‘Telugu Atma Gauravam’ (Telugu pride) and helped his 1983 campaign. “Kamal and Rajini cannot be compared to NTR. He was virtually ‘god’ for the people,” said Andhra Pradesh Food Commission chairman and J R Pushparaj, who contested and won on a TDP ticket in the 1983 assembly polls.

“Kamal’s party and his fans appear more like a popular NGO than a politically charged party. Rajnikanth’s fans have deified him but their political work or presence on the ground is yet to be felt,” said Kannan. Rajnikanth’s tentativeness makes it all the harder for his fans.

On the other hand the fans need to mature into political workers and organisers. This could happen when the stars themselves become fully committed to the public sphere.