'I watch other movies, other stars, but no one evokes the same passion.'
Will Vijay will go the most successful MGR/Jayalalithaa way, or that of Vijayakanth, Seeman or Kamalahaasan, or will he end up as another Rajinikanth who cries wolf at the last minute and quits the scene even before it all had really begun, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a statement, he warned the media not to use his photograph or party symbol for any propaganda.
The very timing of the Phalke Award on Rajini now, days ahead of Tamil Nadu voting in the assembly election, may have taken away the seriousness and credibility attaching to the Centre's decision, making it sound every bit political, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'People will vote for Rajinikanth without expecting any money.'
Mersal is the first Vijay film to make Rs 200 crores. Some say credit for the star's most successful film goes to the BJP and its opponents.
In a brief one minute video clip, Rajinikanth thanked all those who welcomed his political plunge.
'There was a time when a movie star could win an election just by stepping into politics. That era is over.'
The BJP will be the obvious gainer while the DMK will lose a major chunk of its vote bank.
'When 15 percent of the population in the state can't afford to buy milk, this senseless wasting of thousands of litres of milk should not be tolerated.' 'Roughly between 50,000 to 75,000 litres of milk is wasted every time the movie of a popular hero releases.'
The much-awaited Rajinikanth starrer releases on July 22.
Tamil Nadu has time and again proved that it needs a decisive leader even if corrupt, rather than an indecisive leader, however good-hearted, good-natured and honest he may be, writes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Vijay has a lot of young and middle-aged women fans, but as voters, they are possibly now with the DMK, or remain with the AIADMK. Recapturing this constituency would have helped Vijay's political launch and the GOAT script and dialogues could have gone a long way in helping out. But the kind of script and screenplay and the unusually and equally unnecessary long run-time (3 hours, 3 minutes) that GOAT offers takes the film experience over the heads of those that are not familiar with secret agents and uranium theft in Tamil cinema, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Lal Salaam is not a movie A Ganesh Nadar would recommend.
The participation of the two veteran actors assumes significance in view of their recent statements suggesting that they could be joining politics.
Vellore is one of the two seats that the DMK alliance won by the narrowest of margins in 2019. For the DMK's vote-score to be so low in a constituency with a substantial Muslim population has not missed the BJP strategists' eyes, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'He should not have said that he will contest irrespective of his health four weeks ago.'
Rajinikanth will announce his decision by the end of this month through a video message on his Twitter handle.
He also expressed his disappointment over the 'wrong system' which needs to be changed.
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.
The superstar refuses to endorse any label except for one regional cola brand at the start of his career almost four decades ago.
'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23.'
'There will be significant political traction for him. But how much, we don't know yet'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances