DNA Edit: Enter Kamal Haasan

The trend of South Indian actors joining politics has got a fillip, with thespian Kamal Haasan floating his party Makkal Needhi Maiam (People’s Justice Centre) in Madurai. Haasan has pipped his friend and rival Rajinikanth to the post as the latter is still preparing the ground for a grand political entry. Haasan’s politics was amply clear at the inauguration where he shared the stage with Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal.

While the party’s flag symbolised the Dravidian ideology of people’s interests being at the core, he is eyeing for a national role in opposition to the BJP and NDA. That puts him in direct conflict with Rajinikanth whose proximity with PM Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah is well-known. In the absence of a strong leader, à la J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi, Tamil Nadu politics is now largely driven by inter-party squabbling and vendetta. Karunanidhi’s son Stalin is yet to emerge from the shadows of his ailing father and create his own identity.

AIADMK’s drubbing at the RK Nagar bypoll, which saw the political ascendancy Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dhinakaran, underscored the former’s rusty engagement with voters. The electorate’s disillusionment with both DMK and AIADMK is evident. It is searching for new leaders who can impart a distinct colour and direction to state politics. Herein lies the importance of the two matinee idols. They are not only popular, but perceived to be clean, which is a rarity in politics.

How both these titans — who want to champion people’s interests above everything else — carve their niche in a familiar but extremely cut-throat arena of politics would determine whether the state’s politics is headed for a revival of sorts. The journey from big screen to the dusty fields of Tamil Nadu will be marked by an engagement with real issues.