Mission aborted
Retreat of a reluctant politician 
Super star who made a reluctant entry into politics after many adjournments has finally bid adieu. Well, given his age and health scare that led him to retract his plans for the 2021 Assembly Elections, the farewell may be real and not a doubtful one like his entry was. Rajinikanth, the superstar was beyond criticism. His fandom was really large, and he had carefully built his image and persona over the years. He continued making films and chose his sunset years to step into politics – even then his films took a concrete shape whereas political announcements were half hearted.
To someone who was an admirer of Rajini, the star of ‘70s and ‘80s has been utterly disappointed with Rajini the dabbling politician. Indecisive, keeping the fans guessing, lack of direction and clarity through the years of preparing and promising a launch. It was not possible to critique him in open. It is not that I would have had a platform to get my critique published, I couldn’t even risk a critique on social media without getting trolled. Today, I thought is the day I could at least dare to share my thoughts on his trajectory over the years as a reluctant politician. The procrastinator who tried to change his image from an action, entertainer, invincible super star to someone who tried some ideological manoeuvre as he prepared the ground for a full-fledged political career.
Rajinikanth appeared a deeply spiritual person going by the multiple interviews he had given and also his association with Sri Ramakrishna Mission in the formative years to his devotion to Pujya Swami Dayanada Saraswati. He had not hidden his spiritual side. In fact, at the height of his career he had the conviction to don the saffron robe, sporting a salty beard to get into the role of Sri Raghavendra Swami, a seer of the Madhva Sampradaya, acclaimed scholar and a sanyasin who hailed from Tamil Nadu and had his Brindavana Pravesha at Mantralaya in Andhra Pradesh. It was a pious act, and Rajini’s role was much appreciated and the film welcomed by devotees and his fans.
Rajinikanth continued with his streak of highly successful commercial films in the 1990s. From Mani Ratnam’s ‘Thalapathi’ to ‘Annamalai’ and ‘Muthu’ Rajini had several hits. That was also a period when he played ‘Baasha’, the role of a criminal turned hero (according to critics elevated him into a demigod, cult status). ‘Baasha’ had shades of grey as any godfather character would have, yet it was not making any political statement. His veiled political statements did slowly start making an appearance and the punch dialogues, the famous one liners went on to become the markers of his political ambition. The cult entertainer ‘Muthu’ had this much famous dialogue “naan eppo varuven eppidi varuven” which over the years meant his entry into politics one day was a certainty. It said “no one knows when I would come, how I would come, but I will” and that went on for over two decades almost to the point of becoming a Waiting for Godot.
An electoral intervention though not a political entry happened soon after that dialogue became popular. Without entering into the political arena (perhaps he feared he wouldn’t enjoy the same status as a “super star”), he lent his support to the coalition that wanted to defeat J Jayalalithaa in the 1996 assembly elections. The plank was anti-corruption and Rajini’s entry into politics at that juncture could have proved to be a super hit like his blockbuster movies. He offered his support endorsing the opposition coalition only to unseat JJ who was seen by then as the most corrupt politician. There were of course rumours of his personal tiff with the Poes Garden neighbour and one does not know if it was just a personal enmity that triggered an open call to vote against her. The Moopanar-Karunanidhi tie-up together with an outside support from Rajini made 1996 elections a clincher for the opposition. That also raised expectations among Rajini fans about a potential entry.
He continued the covert political statements couched in punch dialogues without ever committing to politics. He also used the ‘Padayappa’ movie to sort of cement his opposition to JJ. The lady antagonist in the movie was typecast as an arrogant woman character who had to be tamed. Actually, for an admirer of the entertainment genre of Rajinikanth ‘Padappaya’ sounded jarring campaign material. Watching ‘Padayappa’ at Albert theatre in Egmore amidst the crowd of unflinching Rajini fans, perhaps I was one of the few who walked out disappointed. I lost interest in Rajini movies after that.
After the success of ‘Muthu’, ‘Arunachalam’ and ‘Padayappa’ Rajini tried to do another Raghavendra. He staked his career to do a ‘Baba’, in all likelihood a movie he was fully convinced of for its mystical, spiritual message like his overtly religious role in ‘Sri Raghavendrar’. But ‘Baba’ was a mystery unlike the known and revered seer Raghavendra for the Tamil fans. The mystic element and a miserable script and film making dealt a severe blow to Rajini’s career. Baba’s sign and slogans might have stayed but the movie in itself was a flop. He resurrected his magic after a long gap with the remake of Malayalam blockbuster ‘Manichitirathaazh’ as ‘Chandramukhi’. Though not a patch on the original, ‘Chandramukhi’ had all the ingredients of a Rajini movie, enabling a comeback shrugging off his ‘Baba’ image. ‘Shivaji the Boss’, ‘Enthiran’ created box office records and Rajini was back in the reckoning in an era several younger stars had made a mark. Through all these years Rajini was still a probable political leader whose fans were waiting for an official announcement. Rajini never tried to hide his receding hairline, wrinkles, attending events without any make up, just being his normal aging self. He never hid his spiritual bent of mind, and he never would overtly or covertly hit any religion, gods, or groups except for the few dialogues he used against JJ. After JJ’s second tenure that enmity was also buried and he did make onstage appearance with her, going on to invite her for his daughter’s wedding and such.
Rajini’s strength was his clearly constructed personality and his fan club. His fan club meetings started creating a feeling of “he is coming now” “he is going to announce his party” expectations again in the later part of last decade. He always seemed reluctant. He continued to make movies even after his illness, though his health and age started putting a question mark on his political career. He had procrastinated beyond a point. There was much opposition to his entry in this period when he engaged with his fan club seriously on organizing at district levels, booth levels to prepare for a political launch. A state known for its Tamil ethnic pride and a separatist streak with the well-entrenched “Dravidian” ideology did no spare a “Maharashtrian from Karnataka” trying to “rule” a Tamil population. Vocal Tamil separatist parties and leaders launched a vicious attack on Rajini’s attempt to enter Tamil Nadu politics. Protests became a norm. In no unclear terms groups and leaders said no non-Tamilian can aspire to be a Chief Minister of the state.
Did Rajini try to recreate his film image at that point to appear like a “Dravidian idealogue”? Some may say one sparrow does not make a summer. I looked at ‘Kaala’ as a completely antithetical to Rajini’s image. Watching a Rajini movie in theatre after a long time, a multiplex in Chembur, created a different feeling from an Aurora in Matunga where I had watched ‘Baashaa’ in the ‘90s. IT companies had started giving holidays for Rajini film releases in Chennai one heard, during the release his earlier film ‘Kabali’. At the Chembur multiplex I saw rows and rows of white-collar workers all donning a black shirt. There was much noise though it never matched the ambience of an Aurora. Yes, Aurora kept coming to mind because ‘Kaala’ was set in Dharavi, and most of the fans I would have watched ‘Baasha’ with must have been residents of Dharavi. I was enraged that they have chosen my city to create a film like that, where Rajini had no humour, no style, no dialogues, no songs to say, and all dark and an anti-hero. I cringed how a “beef” would be introduced into food that the super hero would consume, the black robes, and the background would not fail to show a Buddha vihara and a Periyar bust. Was it just a director’s ideology that Rajini was adhering to when he made ‘Kaala’? Difficult to buy that since super heroes like Rajini craft the songs, dialogues, and the movie to project themselves. M.G.R. and the Dravidian idealogues who were all part of the Tamil film industry had successfully used the medium filling it with dialogues and songs. So, there is no surprise in the Tamil film world if another actor waiting to jump into full time politics would try to ape that strategy.
Kaala was trying to save the land of Dharavi for its residents, and Tamil residents who had a large presence in the area, from a land grabbing party and netas. The land grabber villain was styled as what one can easily guess as a Shiva Sena leader, with generous dose of saffron flags, Sri Rama at the altar of the leader’s home etc., More than cringey was the climax of the movie. Using Ramayana patan and puja as the backdrop to show the Rama worshipping villain was slaying innocent Ravana followers in Dharavi. It is nothing unusual for Dravidianists, for they have always tried to project Ravana as the Dravidian Tamilian slayed unjustly by the Aryan invader Rama. That Rajini would wear a black shirt, and allow Rama to be used in such a manner was disgusting. One couldn’t get over the vision of the Moola Rama Devaru enshrined at Sri Raghavendra Matha, Mantralayam. Rama was worshipped by Sri Raghavendra, and there in that movie, the man who portrayed Sri Raghavendra was using his image and Ramayana in such despicable manner. Was Rajini using that movie for commercial gains or a political entry? For a botched up political entry he sacrificed his faith and betrayed his gurus. He has done as much damage as the black shirt man’s bust that is erected outside Hindu mathas and Hindu temples to mock at the worshippers as “kaattumirandis”. Imagine that they did a movie like that, when an ordinary Tamilian, just 11th std pass, an immigrant Tamilian fighting on a BJP ticket become the lone Tamilian MLA to enter Maharashtra Assembly defeating a Shiv Sena candidate. I do not know how the Sion-Koliwada area received the movie and how Dharavi reacted. It was not the first movie though to have Dharavi as the battleground. A star who had sported vibhuti on his forehead, wore a rudraksham in movies threw it out to wear a dark plastic stuff for a mala, and a black robe signifying his shift.
Was Rajini using this shift in the battleground to places outside Tamil Nadu deliberately? ‘Kaala’ chose Mumbai, and ‘Kabali’ Malaysia. ‘Kabali’ also by the same director as ‘Kaala’ had Rajini doing the role of a don in Malaysia fighting a Chinese don and for the cause of protecting the harassed, anguished Tamil origin plantation workers. Many of the symbolism and dialogues are not to be ignored. The opening shot of Rajini shows him reading a book, ‘My father Baliah’, a book on Dalit issues. Khadi of Gandhi, and the coat-suit of Ambedkar, latter being the role model for Rajini consciously dressing up in coat-suit much to the chagrin of the oppressors. The ruler, the ruled, and the oppressor and the oppressed. A movie that was also released in Malay obviously could not risk antagonising the Malays. Conveniently the villain was a Chinese and just in passing a list of oppressors had Malays apart from Chinese and colonialists. There was no clear mention of who are the oppressors of the Tamils in Malaysia or specifically the Tamil Hindus in Malaysia. ‘Kabali’ was a typical Tamil ethnic representation against the oppressors and the feudal, the bourgeois against the proletariat. ‘Kabali’ at least had some masala resembling a Rajini movie as far as the stunts were concerned, but the core of it was violence. Both movies though were projecting a different Rajini, asserting a political colour, ideology.
Rajini did return to his original form and colour to a great extent in his next film ‘Petta’. Style, songs, and an invincible do-gooder super hero re-emerged. Had he shaken off the ideological shades of the previous movie fully in ‘Petta’? Not exactly. Like ‘Kabali’ and ‘Kaala’ the movie does shift its battleground to an area outside TN, this time Uttar Pradesh. Not to forget that political plans were simmering in the background. His spiritual bent of mind was being taken for granted by many who saw him more on the side of a Hindu party like BJP than a DMK or AIADMK. Not to also forget that there was a leadership vacuum in the state after the passing away of JJ and an ill Mu.Karunanidhi taking a backseat and ultimately passing away. Can someone with an overt Hindu self ever be successful in a state dominated by the Dravidianism? (Cannot compare MGR or JJ here. MGR emerged out of the Dravidian school with a great positioning and JJ was seen as his protégé and not as a Brahmin) Did Rajini prepare the ground to distance himself from BJP through a ‘Kabali’ or a ‘Kaala’? Would presume so if we take ‘Petta’ in the series. If the black shirt and proletariat dialogues of the previous movies prepared for a Dravidian shade, ‘Petta’ moved to close the minority gap. At a time when Love-Jihad was a raging debate, the movie had a theme of Hindu bride, Muslim groom and the Hindu family’s revenge over the bride who defied the “caste” rules. The movie uses only “jaadhi” and not “madham” as far as I remember. It has not just one generation of Muslim-Hindu marriage, but two. Rajini plays the saviour who protected the Hindu bride who broke the caste rules to have a nikkah and a marriage, and also their son who was in love with a Hindu girl. The initial battleground is a temple, the massacre executed on the banks of a temple tank with the temple towering in the background. The villain mysteriously escaped to UP to become a big politician, harassing lovers on Valentine’s Day, sporting tilak, carrying saffron flags, and it even throws in a scene on “lynching for cows”. The battleground in UP is set on the night of Maha Shivratri, with the procession of deities, song, dance, noisy celebration. ‘Petta’ was a general entertainer, a grosser at box office, and on the ideology front did it tick off the anti-BJP box, we would have known if only Rajini had taken the electoral plunge.
How would Rajini have positioned himself if he had taken the electoral plunge? Suspicion based on his religious, family background was that he would succumb to BJP pressure. It was obvious he could never do that. Announcing “non-corrupt, honest, transparent and secular party with a spiritual politics”, “aanmiga arasiyal” in December 2020 he kept everyone confused as to what exactly he had in mind. Dravidian parties obviously can’t go with him for the fear of losing their “Tamil” base aligning with a non-Tamilian. Accusations flew hard and fast that it was BJP forcing him to take the political plunge. Similarly, BJP and the Brahmins were accused as being responsible for his retraction ahead of the political formations in this year’s assembly elections. It was clear that in 2021 Rajini had no chance to go it alone. His standing as a super star was eroded as new stars emerged, and a few of them even nurturing political ambitions. His own friend and colleague Kamal Hasan jumped into the fray. Probably Rajini himself was not convinced of his ideological shift to enter electoral politics. The ‘Kabali’, ‘Kaala’ and ‘Petta’ came too late in the day. Unlike MGR who used his movie image to shrug off the Malayali origins, Rajini was too late in using movies to shed the Marathi lineage. Marrying a Brahmin didn’t help him. In fact, there were fans who blamed the Brahmin family for ruining his political ambitions. Rajini returned to a full-fledged commercial masala with ‘Darbar’. Its release was just around the time he announced the launch of his party. The turncoat couldn’t even take a decisive step. Covid and ill-health came between him and his political launch, or at least we have to believe that indeed was the reason. He refrained from entering electoral fray, and bid a final end to his botched up political ambitions today (Monday, July 12, 2021).
Stars fade, fall. Inevitable force of nature. At least Rajini could have faded with dignity. He was hardly a hero in the Bear Grylls show, he was a natural, a simple human being. That was most endearing part of his personality, the simple human being juxtaposed to the super human in the movies. His political ambitions messed up his “super star” image, real personality took a beating too - as someone who perhaps sacrificed his personal convictions for a short-term political gamble. I cannot even forget it by going back to a ‘Mullum Malarum’, ‘Thillu Mullu’, ‘Guru Sishyan’, ‘Thambikku Entha Ooru’ …
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