'He was able to push the AIADMK to the background.'
It is no secret that popular Tamil movie star Vijay is hoping to become the next MGR or Jayalalitha.
MGR and Jayalalithaa had the backing of a strong political party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham. Vijay floated a new party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, converted his fan clubs into party offices and his fans into party cadre.
Will the tragedy that happened in Karur on September 27 halt Vijay's political momentum?
Senior Journalist R Rangaraj, who has tracked MGR and Jayalalithaa's political careers, first as the Tamil Nadu correspondent for the Press Trust of India and then as the Chennai bureau chief for the Indian Express newspaper, tells Rediff's Shobha Warrier, "Tamil Nadu is a state where people look up to film stars. They deify film stars, even make temples for them." The first of a two-part interview.
The general assumption is that films and politics are interconnected in Tamil Nadu. But if you look at the success rate of film stars in Tamil Nadu politics, you can count only an MGR or a Jayalalitha.
Do you think there is a close connection between cinema and politics here?
Of course, there is a close connection between politics and movies despite the successes or failures.
The kind of hero worship that you see here is probably there only in Andhra Pradesh and not so much in the other states.
Tamil Nadu is a state where people look up to film stars, dreaming to be like them. They deify film stars who have a larger-than-life persona, even make temples for them. This is on a scale which is not replicated anywhere else in India.
To capitalise on this, even an actor with three films behind him, creates fan clubs all over the state, and this is given a prominent place every time a movie of theirs is released. These fan clubs are largely funded by actors themselves!
Later, when they switch over to politics, films give them an edge because they are popular in every nook and corner of the state without visiting the places.
Do you think most actors enter films with political ambitions?
After some time, they develop political ambitions.
When they are busy with films, they don't enter politics. Once they cross 40 and when new heroes enter the scene, they become restless.
Forty years ago, an MGR or a Sivaji could act as college students in their 40s. Not anymore. Today, if actors in their 30s act as college students, they get booed.
So, once they enter their 40s, they look at other avenues where they can continue to be in the public domain. The best avenue available is politics.
Because of the demi-God status they have, they think they can be the next MGR, and the public will accept them like they accepted MGR.
They don't realise that the story of MGR is different.
As a person who has seen how MGR operated, do you think he was very different from other film stars? Why was he so successful?
He was so successful because he had a long period of association with the DMK.
MGR was associated with the DMK for several years and for 25, 30 years, MGR used films as a medium to create a good Samaritan image for himself. He was involved in a lot of philanthropy. Helping him build this was a very big fans association.
(DMK Founder C N) Annadurai used to bring MGR to some party meetings. In fact, the connection between the film world and politics started with Annadurai followed by Karunanidhi, MGR and S S Rajendran.
I would say who showed the way to MGR and Sivaji Ganesan to come into politics was K R Ramaswamy. He was the one who was very attached to Annadurai and had done the maximum number of plays written by Annadurai.
Karunanidhi was in great demand even then, for the dialogues he wrote.
(V R) Nedunchezhian, who was supposed to be Annadurai'sheir apparent, was not in favour of film people getting prominence in the party, but the film lobby supported MGR and Karunanidhi.
Didn't Karunanidhi use his pen to propagate Dravidian ideology?
Yes, he initially used stage plays and later on films, to spread the party ideology.
The turning point was the 1967 election in which the DMK defeated the Congress; the Congress has not been able to make a comeback after that.
Annadurai was actually not sure about the 1967 success. He did not even contest the assembly election but stood for the Parliament election.
But MGR was shot before the elections by M R Radha.
A photograph of the wounded MGR with a bandage was enough to win, Annadurai and Karunanidhi realised. A poster with this photo was pasted all over Tamil Nadu with the caption, vote for this man!
The strategy of Annadurai and Karunanidhi to use a wounded MGR's photo turned out to very crucial for the first DMK win.
Do you think MGR would not have been such a political success without the dialogues written by Karunanidhi?
(MGR would not have been a success) not only without the dialogues written by Karunanidhi but without his years of association with the DMK.
Had he been outside the DMK and had started a new party like Vijay, the story would have been different.
Look at Vijay. He started a new party without any political base. Overnight, he is trying to convert his film fans into a political party cadre.
MGR was able to do that because he was associated with the DMK for decades. He was there at all the crucial events of the DMK. So, he could convert his fans associations which were there for over three decades into a political party.
MGR was the actor people saw but Karunanidhi was the man behind him. They were good friends in those days.
Do you think Jayalalithaa was a success because MGR groomed her in the early days and made her the AIADMK propaganda secretary?
I don't think MGR thought of a big role for Jayalalithaa. Because he was unwell and could not travel everywhere, he used to send Jayalalithaa to attend some meetings.
When he found that she was able to attract crowds, he sent her to more meetings. But the party was against her elevation.
When he came back from the US after medical treatment, he came to know that Jayalalithaa sent signals to the Congress to make her chief minister. He felt she was not loyal to him.
So, he did not announce that she would lead the party after him.
After MGR came back from the US, his wife Janaki and R M Veerappan saw to it that Jayalalithaa did not get any prominent role in the party.
If MGR had survived for one more year, he would have totally sidelined Jayalalithaa.
But her association with the party and MGR for five years was enough for her to capitalise on, and be the number one in the party later on.
The disadvantage Janaki had was she came into the public domain only after MGR's death. If she had survived the confidence vote and been in power for two years, she might have got a chance to carry on.
Then, she would have been able to take on Jayalalithaa.
How do you compare the love and support people had for MGR, Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa?
I will start with Jayalalithaa. She was cultivated by MGR. She was a very poor speaker. For many years, she could only read from a prepared text.
MGR never used a prepared text but rambled on. But he could create a rapport with people as he moved closely with them. On the other hand, it is said that Jayalalithaa behaved like an empress, upsetting many senior party leaders even when MGR was alive.
In the case of Karunanidhi, it was a combination of party network and his extraordinary ability as a speaker. There are very few people who write well and also speak well. Karunanidhi was that exception; he could write well and also speak well. He was very crisp and sharp with words. He had a way of building up the narrative.
IMAGE: R RangarajDo you think Vijay will be a political success because of his huge popularity as a film star?
Politically, he could be important and could definitely be the number 2 in Tamil Nadu.
The way he had gained momentum, he could have become number 2 for sure.
He was able to push the AIADMK to the background because Edappadi Palanisamy was given a chance by people and he was the chief minister for four years without making any impact. He also failed to defeat the DMK in the last 8, 9 elections.
People may think Edappadi may not be able to do the job of usurping the DMK.
So, the vote for change would have moved to Vijay.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff