Tamil cinema has played a crucial role in Dravidian politics in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It was Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) which is now led by M. K. Stalin, a Dravidian party that extensively used media for promoting its films.
C.N. Annadurai, the first Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and Karunanidhi were screen writers who wrote powerful dialogues for their films to promote Dravidian ideals which were to some extent anti-Brahmin. The film Parasakthi, written by Karunanidhi and released in 1952, is now considered a major milestone for the Dravidian movement. The major features of Dravidian politics are centered on liguistics, ethnicity, and cultural identity. In particular, the ideas concerned with the dominance of the Brahmin culture in the civil and political society, as well as the propagation of the Tamil language have been some of the biggest hallmark of this movement.
Among the seven Chief Ministers that Tamil Nadu has seen till date, five have been from a film background. This includes M. G. Ramachandran, popularly known as M.G.R, who was the first film-star-turned-politician in any Indian state and the founder of the AIADMK. Later on in the year 1982, Jayalalithaa also joined the party as a propaganda secretary. And after her mentor MGR’s death in 1987, she took over the party leadership and became the opposition leader to the DMK-led government headed by M. Karunanidhi at the time. Following Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in May 1991, the AIADMK swept the subsequent elections. Marred by allegations of blatant corruption, Jayalalithaa lost the 1996 elections.
The DMK as well as the AIADMK have always been the two major players and the primary deciding factor in every central government election till date. In the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the DMK leader M. K. Stalin has offered to support the Prime Ministerial candidate Rahul Gandhi. And the AIADMK has already said that it is going to ally with the Bharatiya Janatha Party.
Two of the most celebrated actors of Indian cinema Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth have announced their entry into the political domain. But what is their game plan? What steps are they going to take to change the course of politics in the state ? Will their fan base make it easier for them to get into power? Who is going to be the next Chief Minister? These are some of the questions waiting to be answered.
Kamal Hasan has announced his party Makkal Needhi Maiam, with the party symbol depicting six hands holding onto one another. Three of the hands are in red and the other three in white. At the centre of the flag is a six spoked star in black, forming a white core. According to Kamal Haasan, if one looks closely enough, one can find the new map of south India. He also made it clear that he would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and ally with like-minded parties. On the other hand, THALAIVAR has still not revealed his party name and symbol. The 2.0 actor has announced that he is not going to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and is not supporting any specific political party. But he stated that he is going to contest the Assembly election of 2021 in Tamil Nadu from all constituencies.