Actor Kamal Haasan’s eleventh role

Stealing a march over his film contemporary - Rajinikanth, in seeking to fill the political vaccum in Tamil Nadu, the ‘Dasavatharam’ star has begun his eleventh role, as it were, with considerable gusto.

By meeting political leaders across the divide – from DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and DMDK Chief Vijaykanth to even Commmunist leaders, in the run up to the launch of his Makkal Needhi Maiam, Kamal has displayed a measure of humility and a willingness to imbibe a melange of ideas from other party ideologies and practices, reminiscent of Akbar’s Din-Illahi! 

Strategically sharing the stage with Aam Admi Party Chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal who described him as a ‘real life hero’, the film star hopes to project himself as an anti-corruption crusader, apart from addressing the ‘There Is No Alternative’ or None Of The Above (NOTA) factor.

The timing is right. Attempting to cash in on the infighting in the ruling AIADMK, post Jayalalithaa, an inactive Karunanidhi and anti incumbency at the Centre, Ulaganayagan’s transition to ‘Nammavar’ will pass muster with disenchanted sections of the population. 

Tamil Nadu politics has been replete with sychophancy. Kamal has sought to dismantle the ‘high command’ mould making it clear in his preamble that he will not be a ‘thalaivar’ but one among the people, and immediately walking the talk with the identical style of seating on the dais. Quick witted, there has been no dearth of repartees. To DMK Working President MK Stalin’s innuendo “paper flowers can bloom”, Kamal’s rebuttal that he is not a flower but a seed, was catchy, to say the least.

His speech at the launch had its share of punchlines, echoing politically correct sentiments – be it divisive games over Cauvery water sharing or the State involved in liquor sales. The FAQ format on stage was a clever attempt to show accountability from the word go.

In the rough and tumble of politics, good intentions are hardly enough. The self proclaimed atheist, who has often brushed aside his Brahmin roots, will have to grapple with the inescapable caste equation that has always dominated the dravidian electoral landscape. Any party, especially the fledgling ones, will need significant money power to stay afloat, in a State that has been sucked into the quicksand of the freebie culture.

Not known to have his head in the clouds, the new political star knows that winning elections is not like T-20 cricket but the good old 5 day test format. And that it took an MGR two decades to reach the top, Jayalalithaa half that period, that Sivaji Ganesan didn’t make the cut and Vijaykanth’s fortunes fluctuated and hinged on who he rode piggyback on. 

The Arvind Kejriwal comparison may be both odious and misleading as Delhi’s electoral arithmetic is poles apart from TN. Forging alliances is also on his mind. That he has not openly lambasted the DMK may well be a sign of keeping options open. Or sowing the seeds of a future tie up with his atheist counterparts!