After Darbar and Indian 2, future of Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan as actors uncertain ahead of 2021 Assembly elections
In Tamil Nadu politics and movie stars coexist as every big star has political ambitions. Superstar Rajinikanth, who had announced his interest in joining politics more than a year back, said he will fight in 2021 assembly elections. But he has been silent during the last three months as the Lok Sabha Elections were being held. He was shooting for his AR Murgadoss-directed Darbar in Mumbai and did not support any party during the campaign period.
However Rajinikanth was the first to congratulate Modi by the afternoon of 23 May when he tweeted: “Respected dear @narendramodi ji hearty congratulations... You made it!!! God bless.” It made political analysts wonder if Rajinikanth will come to the rescue of BJP, which has been totally annihilated in Tamil Nadu, where they lost by a huge margin in all the five seats they contested.
Respected dear @narendramodi ji
hearty congratulations ... You made it !!! God bless.— Rajinikanth (@rajinikanth) May 23, 2019
Meanwhile Kamal Haasan and his fledging party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) came third in as many as 11 constituencies and got 3.72 percent votes in 35 constituencies they contested. They did best in urban constituencies (just like Kamal Haasan films in recent years). About this, Kamal Haasan had said, “We didn't expect (the people) to embrace a 14-month-old baby; the adulation is better than our expectations. We have done what we could do in 14 months. MNM has made a great beginning and has garnered 3.72 percent vote share, though in some constituencies it went up to 12% (South Chennai). The journey could be a long one, but we are here to stay.”
Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. Facebook
But none of the Kollywood stars sent out any congratulatory message to Kamal Haasan. The Nadigar Sangam chief Vishal went personally and met MK Stalin and congratulated him. The next big fight will be the 2021 assembly election and the buzz is that BJP is looking for star power to make their presence felt in Tamil Nadu.
All eyes are on Rajinikanth as his Darbar is getting ready for a Pongal January 2020 release. Will he sign more films or will he start preparing for 2021 assembly elections by naming his party? In an earlier interview Rajinikanth’s brother Sathyanarayana had been quoted saying the superstar will be making certain big decisions after 23 May results. Modi and Amit Shah are reportedly very keen on roping Rajinikanth in to play a major role for restructuring the BJP unit in the state.
The political buzz is that if Kamal Haasan can get almost 4 percent vote share, Rajinikanth can double it. There are rumours that Rajinikanth will do more films after Darbar and take a call on his party only close to 2021 assembly elections.
At the same time Kamal Haasan is all set to launch Season 3 of Big Boss on Star Vijay and it will go on air from June. There's no further update on his Shankar-directed Indian 2. Kamal will also have to see that his MNM continues to grow at the grass root level.
Superstar Rajinikanth has been invited for the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 30 May. He is likely to take part in the ceremony, though the second schedule of Darbar starts on the same day in Mumbai.
Updated Date: May 28, 2019 12:54:27 IST
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