Chennai: Superstar Kamal Haasan may have had many hits, and many flops, in his lengthy film career that started for him when he was a child artiste. But even in the odd failure on the 70 mm screen, some of the blame is shared by scriptwriters, screenplay writers, musicians, and directors.
But for his super flop show in power politics, and electoral contents, there is no one else to blame, but himself. All the bravado, and big talk that preceded it, his entry into politics, was designed to be dramatic with him donning the role of a saviour of the masses from the big bad, and ruthlessly corrupt politicians, came to a big zero.
Kamal Haasan, who spoke of occupying the political vacuum after the demise of iconic Dravidian leaders–DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi, Puratchi Thalaivi, and J. Jayalalithaa–realized after the polls as he sat licking his wounds that the vacuum he thought existed was long filled up by M.K. Stalin and to some extent Chief Minister Edapaddi Palaniswami, and Tamil Nadu remained a two-horse race between the Dravidian majors.
The 2021 Assembly elections proved one thing–the hold of film stars over Tamil Nadu politics has weakened to the extent that most of the film stars in the fray could win their own seats. Joining the ignominy of the loss parade with Kamal Haasan were film-actor-turned politician Khushboo who crossed over to the BJP, Seeman, the chief of Naam Tamilzhar Katchi (NTK).
Only three prominent film personalities contested, and all lost. Among the three, only Seeman and his party, NTK, managed to secure a vote bank of some 7 percent that could come in handy in future Assembly polls, either to enter a fruitful alliance or strengthen own party–like Captain Vijayakanth did two decades ago–or be a significant disrupter of changes of either of the big two.
But among the three, Kamal Haasan was the biggest, the superstar who is also a superlative actor, in the fray. There is no debate that he almost stands along with superstar Rajinikanth, his contemporary. His highly hyped-up entry into politics ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha general elections, and the political noises of a left of the Centre, pro-poor, anti-corruption stance, with which he sought to project him as a potent third force in Tamil Nadu politics. His entry into politics had all the elements drawn from the make-believe world of films – action, drama, suspense, and emotions in abundant supply.
But his concoction not only bombed at the electoral box office, but it also destroyed the chances of future aspirants from the Tollywood industry. His failure will act like the benchmark reference point for potential and aspiring politicians in the filmdom. It is also a powerful message to the film stars and celebrities that people want politicians and people who work for them. Besides, Kamal Haasan’s own reputation on women’s issues kind of put off people and his one-chair culture, putting up just one chair on the dais during electioneering and staying in star hotels was something that did not jell with the image he sought to portray.
His own failure to win can be understood. Even Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief, lost her own seat like Kamal Haasan did, both to BJP candidates by a striking coincidence. But Mamata Banerjee won a bigger victory than in the previous elections, winning few more seats than the 2016 Assembly elections. With two of the BJP winning candidates resigning, and two vacancies owing to the death of candidates before polling, Mamata Banerjee has a chance to further expand her victory margin. She won 213 seats out of the total 292 that went to polls.
In case of Kamal Haasan and Tamil Nadu, he failed to get even one of his candidates to cross the finish line. Naturally, the huge failure has begun to impact Kaman Haasan in more ways than one. Within days of the drubbing, Kamal Haasan’s party, Makkal Neethi Maiam, went into an implosion mode. The most prominent and high-profile catch, former IAS officer who took voluntary retirement due to the alleged corruption of the AIADMK ministers, Santosh Babu, was among those who parted company with the superstar, citing “personal reasons”.
Santosh Babu, who was forcefully articulate and maintained that he entered the political arena and thus public service with an intent to solve the everyday problems of the man on the street. He had mounted a good, decent and clean campaign, and had attracted the youth, but clearly it was not enough. That Santosh Babu took to Twitter to announce his resignation from the MNM post and primary membership of the party itself tells the tale of internal strife in Kamal Haasan’s party and how many felt stifled by the working style of the superstar. Kamal Haasan’s party has begun to disintegrate, given the way his party colleagues are speaking out and quitting.
“Dear friends, Good afternoon! It’s with a heavy heart that I am informing you that I am resigning my post and membership from Makkal Needhi Maiam. My decision is due to personal reasons. I thank Kamal Sir and our team for their affection and friendship,” Babu tweeted. Similarly, Padma Priya, MNM’s State Secretary (Environment Wing) tweeted her resignation from the party post and the primary membership for personal reasons. Some more are expected to quit the party next week, as the leader (Kamal Haasan) was not fixing the problem but bent on fixing the persons.
The implosion in the party began with the resignation of MNM vice president R. Mahendran. He accused the leader with turning the party into a fan club. “We joined MNM as it seemed different from other parties. As a new party this offered lateral entry for many, unlike other established parties like the DMK and AIADMK,” Mahendran told media persons after quitting.
He (Kamal Haasan) seemed to be focused on his own victory from Coimbatore South than getting other MLAs elected and to work for the party as a whole.
The common refrain in the party workers and leaders is that Kamal Haasan was unwilling to discuss issues with the party leaders, but expected them to simply do as they are told. Mahendran’s outburst that there was a decline in Kamal Haasan’s tenacity of purpose, which is now buried under a style of operation which reeks of a non-democratic manner of running a political party, is a telling commentary on Kamal Haasan and his democratic values.
Lakshmana Venkat Kuchi is a senior journalist tracking social, economic, and political changes across the country. He was associated with the Press Trust of India, The Hindu, Sunday Observer, and Hindustan Times. He can be reached on kvlakshman@gmail.com and Twitter handle @kvlakshman.