Curly hair, dark glasses and a fur cap with a trademark coarse voice. In Tamil Nadu, it still draws adulation and crowds, nearly two decades after the legendary actor turned politician Marudur Gopalan Ramachandranm, MGR, died.
Last word
COIMBATORE: Curly hair, dark glasses and a fur cap with a trademark coarse voice. In Tamil Nadu, it still draws adulation and crowds, nearly two decades after the legendary actor turned politician Marudur Gopalan Ramachandranm, MGR, died. MGR headed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and was the chief minister of the state. As his protégé J Jayalalithaa faces the verdict that will determine whether she gets another term in office, folk artiste Anandraj dons the MGR mantle in this textile town.
A folk artiste, Anandraj imitates his real life hero to the last step. As he renders the famous movie hits that made MGR a legend and urges people to re-elect Jayalalithaa, the 38-year old lives his dream of a loyal worker of the party his idol built.
“My only dream is that AIADMK continues to rule the state. I don’t know from when I am a fan of MGR and I will be a fan throughout my life,” says Anandraj, as he shows the tattoo of the Tamil filmdom’s most famous star on his hand and chest. Anandraj heads a nine-member troupe that performs folk dances in temple festivals across the state, but swears that he has never stepped on a platform of a rival political party. Not very far from the street-side meeting point of AIADMK, a makeshift orchestra on a van belts out campaign songs for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) based on the latest Tamil hits. Here, the troupe leader Kovai S A Iqbal imitates Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Muthuvel Karunanidhi not in his looks, but the verses the octogenarian leader is famous for scripting. Karunanidhi has scripted several hit movies, including the classic Parasakthi.
Iqbal has closed his sofa business for the last three months and now campaigns for DMK across the region. With a dream to become a councillor one day, the 41-year old Iqbal has been a party supporter ever since he left school in 9th standard. A fan of Nagore Haneefa, a popular Tamil singer, Iqbal sings nearly 100 songs a day and urges voters to bring Karunanidhi into power again. “During polls, my only work is to sing ideological songs for the party. My aim is to see that the work done by our leader is taken to the people through by songs,” Iqbal told DNA.
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