'I wish him well in whatever he does and I will do so if he enters politics too.'
It looked as if the BJP was hoping to use Rajinikanth to press their seat-bargain with the AIADMK. Now with the Rajini bait gone, the question now is not how much the BJP would settle for, but how much the AIADMK would be ready to offer, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
For a party that has adopted the successful social re-engineering model from Gujarat, Rajasthan and across the rest of the 'Hindi belt' over the past decades, Tamil Nadu continues to remain a tricky customer, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP's relations with some alliance partners, including its oldest ally the Shiv Sena, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, Akali Dal and Rashtriya Lok Samta Party of Union minister Upendra Kushwaha, have been somewhat tense, and Shah's comments are being seen as an attempt to smooth their ruffled feathers.
The Tamil Nadu voter may not be in the mood to test new talent, not when the state and the people are going through unprecedented and unanticipated crises, of which coronavirus is only the first. All of it boils down to an election between the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK next year, with small-timers, had-been parties and promised parties left on the sidelines, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If Mahatma Gandhi could fight to eradicate corruption at the age of 78, why can't I try at 60?'
Chief Minister O Panneerselvam hugged Modi emotionally on a couple of occasions.
Aishwaryaa R Dhanush, Rajinikanth's daughter, tells Rediff.com what it is like to have a legendary superstar for a father.
Rajinikanth's visible electoral strength is his constant mouthing of the term, 'aanmiga arasiyal', or 'spiritual politics', without he having to explain what it is. By implication, it is all that what Dravidian politics is not about. It may imply anti-corruption, being against Periyar's forgotten anti-god, anti-Brahmin dictum, but also ends up covering 'Tamil pride', which begins with Tamil language where, as a Maratha from Karnataka, he has more to defend himself. However, in the contemporary national context, aanmiga arasiyal is seen as a front for Rajini to market his brand of 'soft Hindutva' but identified even more with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in political terms, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The RK Nagar bypoll result is a danger signal to the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu, says R Rajagopalan.
Addressing his fans on the opening day of a six-day-long photo session with followers, the actor said he was hesitant to enter politics since he knew its dynamics.
He also expressed his disappointment over the 'wrong system' which needs to be changed.
What will the Centre and the Tamil Nadu government do to answer the queries and fears of investors who will want to be doubly sure they would not be harassed at a later date, as has been happening to Sterlite, should be interesting to watch, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Truth be acknowledged, Rajinikanth is not known for wanting to leave his comfort zone to take the politico-electoral plunge, even if it meant his becoming the chief minister of a state that has conferred Tamil cinema's superstardom on him over the past 25 years. Today, his fans belong to the younger generation all right, but their numbers are far fewer than their counterparts in the '90s. They are not devoid of personal ambitions and agendas, unlike what Rajinikanh wants them to be, if he and they were to enter politics, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Madras high court on Friday restrained the police from arresting the film's director A R Murugadoss till November 27.
The superstar's much-awaited film Kabali is set to release on July 22.
Today, when one Kamalahaasan launches a new political outfit, vowing to cleanse Tamil Nadu polity and political administration of corruption, mal-governance and non-governance, he is pitted not only against Rajini with his commitment to 'spiritual politics', he is also pitted against the real 'Lotus' in Tamil Nadu politics, representing the ruling BJP at the Centre, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Decks were cleared on Friday night for an ordinance on Jallikattu after Tamil Nadu and the Centre worked feverishly even as the state stood on the edge and protesters on Marina beach and elsewhere refused to relent until the sport is held.
The fracas between Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam on Monday over who will be projected as the CM candidate in next year's assembly polls not only points to a possibility of another vertical split in Tamil Nadu's ruling party but will also come as sweet music for the opposition DMK which in the past stood to gain from the AIADMK's squabbles, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The BJP has been wooing him for quite some time.' 'But he didn't join the BJP; he started his own party.' 'Remember he has Hindus, Muslims and Christians as his fans.' 'He will never antagonise any of his fans.'
President Pranab Mukherjee presented five Padma Vibhushan, eight Padma Bhushan and forty-three Padma Shri awards at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Tamil Nadu chief secretary said that the request could not be sanctioned, owing to the legal issues at Marina Beach.
'Greatness can come from simple beginnings. Actually it will come only from simplicity. Glad to start my journey from a great man's simple abode,' the actor said in a tweet after visiting House of Kalam in Rameswaram.
An extra point to them for performing the daunting task of sharing screen space with the formidable superstar!
The truce, even if it is not permanence peace, will come under stress and test during the pending polls to rural local bodies in nine revenue districts and urban polls across the state, including those for 16 municipal corporations, starting with Chennai, the oldest and largest, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The superstar blamed anti-social elements for the anti-Sterlite protests last week that resulted in 13 deaths in police firing, and called for a Jayalalithaa-style 'iron fist' policy to crush such people in the interest of Tamil Nadu.
Beginning his film career in antagonistic roles, he later emerged on his own to become a hero. Ambareesh also had a successful career in politics having been an MLA, a Lok Sabha member and a former minister at the state and central levels.
If Vijaykanth and his party stole the media thunder, which lingered in the viewers' mind even while watching Prime Minister Modi's thunderous campaign speech, the latter suffered also owing to visible 'disconnects', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Quoting a shloka from The Bhagavad Gita, he said, 'this is the compulsion of time'.
While critics and protestors have multifarious arguments to offer, the defence of CAA has been uni-dimensional and uni-focussed as has been the case with most policies of the Modi government and the political positions of his party. But to be drawn into an issue that has assumed more than local and national dimensions, Rajini has knowingly or otherwise, taken the plunge and in favour of the BJP -- or, so it has come to be seen, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The question is not if Vijay would enter politics. Instead, it is about his chances of success, if any, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rajini's call may now force other political parties, including the DMK and the Congress, who are in alliance talks already, to come up with water proposals of their own in their poll manifesto. In a way, this may be a 'tactical victory' for Rajinikanth, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If the circumstances warrant me to enter politics, I won't allow such people to come anywhere near me, not even allow them an entry.'
The acquittal allows her to plan a new political path and also prepare her party for the assembly elections scheduled next year.
The BJP will be the obvious gainer while the DMK will lose a major chunk of its vote bank.
The 84-year-old Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner has given some of the best talents to Indian cinema.
'I joined the protest on the 100th day to show solidarity with the farmers.' 'I was outside the collector's office when people started running.' 'I was wondering what had happened when I felt a pain in my hand and it began bleeding.'
As fliers find themselves spoilt for choice, airlines are looking at ways in which to position themselves distinctively.
Why do the biggest, most talented and successful film-makers of India suck up to the establishment so breathlessly, asks Shekhar Gupta.
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