Surely one part of him always knew this day would come? Otherwise, it’s too much of a coincidence to see two decades-worth of such pointed punch lines.
Happy milestone birthday, Superstar Rajinikanth.
So you’ve finally done it. You’re making the jump. This time, it’s really happening, say the headlines. Having seen the announcement on Twitter, I feel like I’m hearing all your punch lines in a new meaning. Take “Idhu eppidi irukku?” It feels like that’s what you’d have mind-voiced after tweeting that you’ll launch your own party next month. There’s a nice ring to the timing. Last January, you had Darbar. This January, you’re planning an… arasiyal darbar.
As an aside, it’s nice to see the most-asked question for an earlier generation of film fans (“Neenga Rajini fan-aa Kamal fan-aa?) spill out of the cinema halls and into the political arena. As another aside, I wonder what you two might have discussed in earlier times, when we had a different Chief Minister. I feel like I’m hearing a title of a film you both did in a new meaning. Did you two shrug your shoulders and say: “Aval appadithaan?” And now, here you both are, in a whole other version of… Aadu puli aattam.
Read the rest of this article at the link above.
Copyright ©2020 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Madan
December 11, 2020
Isn’t this rather late in the day? It’s like Sanders and Trump. Have one or two rolls of the die. Little damage done with maximum two terms in power, if that.
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Alex John
December 11, 2020
Unusually blunt for BR, but I think this is the best that can be done while writing about a man who made a career out of droll idiosyncrasy on screen.
Happy birthday style-mannan!
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Madan
December 12, 2020
Ugh, reading about the number of times Rajni used the taming of the shrew trope was disgusting. I don’t blame you for writing about it, rather the bhaktas should be reminded every once in a while of what they support. Especially now that he is going to seek real power.
Kamal too used to indulge in the bhagyaraj variety of sexism (Singaravelan) but he balanced it with Magalir Mattum. But as for what he really thinks about women, I think Vani and Sarika have a good deal to say about it and maybe Gauthami too.
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brangan
December 12, 2020
Madan: Actually, I admire Kamal for that quality. He has never hidden that aspect of his life. It’s an open book, unlike so many others (oh man, I could name so many) who have affairs on the side and in secret. It could not have been easy for a rising star to accept the failure of a marriage or an established star having kids outside of marriage or whatever.
I don’t know what happened with Vani, Sarika, etc. So I can’t comment on that.
But sometimes relationships don’t last. People change. They are no longer the person you fell in love with. Or sometimes a man/woman could find out that monogamy is just not part of their DNA.
It’s a very Indian thing to stick on to bad marriages (whether the man or woman or both are responsible for the badness of the marriage). In the West, people move on.
I mean this wrt friendships, too. Not all chaddi-buddies are meant to be around till the day you die. Some friends only stick around for certain parts of your life journey, and then you go your separate ways…
My 2c, based on some terrible, terrible marriages I have seen around me.
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Madan
December 12, 2020
BR: As long as it is only incompatibility and there are no issues beyond that, I don’t care how many times the man remarries OR has new relationships. But is it all there is to it? Let’s see. Yes I do appreciate that he openly said he doesn’t respect marriage as an institution unlike some of his colleagues who marry and continue seeking out young starlets for one night flings.
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Voldemort
December 12, 2020
Oh boy! I never knew Neelambari was inspired from You-Know-Who. Wonder it it was KS Ravikumar’s idea or Rajini’s. That doesn’t make it any less nauseating though.
I have always wondered if Rajini actually advocates this “putting women in their place” notion or was just pandering to the audience when he did those roles. In real life he comes across as very humble, and respectful towards everyone (By IRL here I mean interviews, media appearances, et al) I mean, one can’t put up a facade of humbleness for 40+ years.
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Voldemort
December 12, 2020
Second Alex that this is a rather blunt piece for BR’s standards. It’s like one of those “10 things you didn’t know about Rajinikanth” articles.
There is very little appreciation even from fans for his acting. Maybe something along those lines would have been interesting.
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Yajiv
December 12, 2020
I abhor Kollywood kisu-kisu (at least I thought I did!) but BR saying “oh man, I could name so many” surprisingly piqued my interest. I guess there’s a gossip-y side to everyone 😄
My dad, who’s a diehard Rajini fan, feels that he is a couple of decades too late to politics. He says the iron was truly hot back in the “Even God can’t save TN if Jayalalitha wins again” days. Only time will tell how this plays out.
Nice article anyway, BR. You put enough Rajini-isms in there yet stilled weaved some nice thoughts/musings around it.
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Madan
December 12, 2020
“I mean, one can’t put up a facade of humbleness for 40+ years” – Well, Weinstein did. And so did Ailes. Everybody thought he was a conservative Midwest uncle type. And then, they blew the lid.
Note, I am not saying Rajni did those things and I won’t without evidence. But it’s remarkably easy, if anything, to put up a facade in public. But I believe Rajni did give some social responsibility lectures re women and their ‘behaviour’ too. Rahini would remember better because she mentioned those when BR once did a piece on misogyny in Rajni films.
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abishekspeare
December 12, 2020
This is a somewhat incoherent piece for BR’s standards. It’s not clear what it wants to convey and has political scribbling in the border but doesn’t up front make any statement either. Looks half baked and hastily put up, and throughout the article i kept asking myself “ippo enna dhaan solla vareenga”.
Maybe I’m misreading the write up, or maybe this is a once-in-a-bluemoon misfire
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Madan
December 12, 2020
Yajiv: I have heard stories too about Karthik and, especially and especially, Prabhudeva. Of course they are ‘stories’ and there are all sort of stories.
Let’s say most of the stories (passed off as fact, to boot) in this Quora answer sound wildly fabricated.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-amazing-and-interesting-facts-about-the-relation-between-Ilayaraja-Garu-and-SP-Balasubramaniam-Garu
But BR has actually met many people in the industry, to state the obvious, so he will get this gossip from more authentic sources. It would also not surprise me at all given what I have heard from the few actresses who have let on, like Tisca Chopra in the Reptile Dysfunction video. She mentions that outdoor location (like Ooty etc) automatically meant hero was going to have some ‘fun’. Or the director. She mentioned this w.r.t Bollywood but South cinema if anything is more tolerant of misogyny so…
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Aman Basha
December 12, 2020
BR is teasing a tell-all gossip expose about everyone in Kollywood like Rajni’s been teasing the plebs about a political career. And when he’s 70, he’ll finally publish it, describing it as a ‘spiritual cleansing’. I thought he was a Kamal fan all this while. Do feel free to throw out a teaser of what’s to come 🙂
About Rajni’s politics, let’s be realistic here, either Rajni’s got a big ace in the hole or at best, he’ll be a vote spoiler. Of course, all this is without thinking about the massive BJP organization which is bound to get on the ground to swing it to him, and after Bihar, Hyderabad, no one would underestimate them.
I really don’t think any film or a mass film from the 80s, 90s or even recently wouldn’t have some misogyny in it. From reading the article, I think most of these films are Telugu remakes of Chiranjeevi hits. The Neelambari-You Know Who comparison was something I never thought of before, but it’s more political than sexist. Rajni IMO is more the benevolent misogyny patriarch who asks his daughter to get married and have children before working, while Kamal is a Ranbir Kapoor like casanova. And who’s to say we know all about KH’s escapades? For one, I’ve heard of something to do with a 90s-00s heroine around whom there was a conversation recently 😉
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MANK
December 12, 2020
From Baasha: Naan oru thadava sonna, nooru thadava sonna maadhiri!
You know what? It really seems like we’ve heard a hundred announcements about your political entry, until this one.
Killer line boss
This piece was really something new. i liked it.
Rajni is too late to join politics, from what i heard, he has not interested, but was forced by some “forces” to take the plunge; but unlike Muthu, i don’t think its the masses, he’s definitely not the mass hero he was 20 years ago. Muthu was specifically designed for Rajni’s political entry, why he never took the plunge at the time is a mystery.
MGR was in politics from his 30s, he formed his own party when he was 56 and became chief minister when he was 60, and remained undefeated till his death at 70. till his end he remained a beloved hero of the masses. So a comparison between MGR and Rajni is useless.
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Satya
December 12, 2020
I have always wondered if Rajini actually advocates this “putting women in their place” notion or was just pandering to the audience when he did those roles.
I don’t know. But, I do think there is some attempt to match the current cinematic sensibilities. Take Kabali for instance. It is a very un-Rajini film in the way it treated its women and, broadly, all of its supporting characters. It might be not so satisfying as a film, but from there I see Rajini making some attempt to come closer to the current sensibilities.
Even the climax of Petta, the Rajini fan tribute, is very much against the usual ‘too-good-to-believe’ Rajini’s onscreen image of the yore. Now, think of the Sriman-Rajini interaction in Darbar. If it were in a 90s Rajini film, you would never see our hero apologising, or the random characters even doubting his mental sanity.
Now that he goes ro the political arena, I don’t know what kind of films he would make. One thing is certain. Even if he fails as a politician, and even if as an actor he fails to impress further, Rajini will and always be the final true superstar.
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Madan
December 12, 2020
Yajiv : I too think it’s too late now. I guess for all his putting da woman in place fantasies, he never had the guts to take on Jaya in her political prime. And with Karunanidhi on the other side, there was no space for a third alignment. Like Modi in 2014, Rajni is hoping to strike now when there’s a yuuuge vacuum (albeit EPS has won some goodwill lately?). Unlike Modi, he is already really old. That could or could not hurt (Achyutananthan and Pawar are recent counter examples).
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MANK
December 12, 2020
It could not have been easy for a rising star to accept the failure of a marriage or an established star having kids outside of marriage or whatever.
i agree with that to an extend. For a hero to do that in the 80s was very courageous and Kamal did suffer for that. His popularity plummeted at the time, when the Vani-sarika controversy broke. it’s a testament to his talent that he could climb back. But, his reputation as a “Kadhal Mannan” really helped. People already knew him as a “naughty one” “master of all arts” or the “bad boy”, so he got a pass. I don’t think Rajni would have survived it or MGR(that’s why he didn’t marry “you know who”). i read this about John Wayne, that when his second wife filed for divorce and accused him of being a wife-beater in court, the next day there was a slew of young women with placards (to greet Wayne at the court premises) saying i would love to be beaten up by John Wayne(or something to that effect) and the case did not harm Wayne one bit, only boosted his macho image, though it was never proved that he was ever violent towards his wife. Audiences always had a fascination for bad boys, as evidenced in the case of Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt.
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vijay
December 12, 2020
Tamilnadu’s politics is a joke. It has often been observed to be the grubbiest amongst all states. The level of discourse during elections often touches rock bottom, only the medium changes from election to election. If it was strictly TV earlier now it is youtube and social media adding to the farce. . They couldnt clean their own film industry and when something like Metoo cropped up, their silence or nonchalance was quite deafening. Ivanga naatta clean panna poraangalaam. It is more a testimony to the village idiocy and regressiveness of Tamilnadu in general.God save us all.
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Enigma
December 12, 2020
I enjoyed the article, thanks BR. I too think that Rajini delayed his entry into politics and is now about two decades too late. He should have taken the plunge in ‘96 when he may have even won the whole bloody thing. Now I don’t see many people voting for him. And on the topic of ‘Mannan’, I found it misogynistic even back then. Can’t imagine a film like that getting a release now.
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vijay
December 12, 2020
“Second Alex that this is a rather blunt piece for BR’s standards. It’s like one of those “10 things you didn’t know about Rajinikanth” articles.”
Anytime the traffic to the site is a little slow, nothing quite like a piece on Kamal, Rajini, Manirathnam , ARR etc. to get the folks back, bluntness be damned 🙂
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Madan
December 12, 2020
vijay: It will always rankle (for me) that Ilayaraja did not speak out in favour of Chinmayi. He doesn’t even get along with Vairam and still chose to protect the ‘system’. Shameful. I know as it is that he is a pseudo science nut and has fanciful views about Ramana Maharishi v/s Christianity and all that but this was worse. I know that ARR is anyway PC and an expert politician but what happened to Raja’s enfant terrible-ness when it could have been utilised for a good cause?
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Honest Raj
December 12, 2020
You missed out this one – or, maybe you weren’t around back then? 🙂
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Voldemort
December 12, 2020
Madan : Well, Weinstein did. And so did Ailes. Everybody thought he was a conservative Midwest uncle type. And then, they blew the lid. …..But it’s remarkably easy, if anything, to put up a facade in public.
Right. It probably is. If anything our country is much more accepting of a man’s sexual crimes. Heck not less than a month ago, Madurai High Court granted bail to a rape accused if he married the victim.
Satya : Even the climax of Petta, the Rajini fan tribute, is very much against the usual ‘too-good-to-believe’ Rajini’s onscreen image of the yore. Now, think of the Sriman-Rajini interaction in Darbar. If it were in a 90s Rajini film, you would never see our hero apologising, or the random characters even doubting his mental sanity.
Agreed. That’s one of the reasons I really liked his outings with Ranjith. I like to think that even someone in the likes of Rajini can no longer simply spout dialogues like “motthathula ponnu ponna irukanum”. 🙂
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Voldemort
December 12, 2020
Re Chinmayi, its sad that all she got was backlash. Is she not working now because she is done with the TFI or is she not getting offers?
As an aside, I think Chinmayee’s voice was the saving grace for the Jessie character played by Trisha who is a pathetic actor (Not that the character isn’t good, it’s lovely, but Trisha as Jessie is pretty awful)
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Aman Basha
December 12, 2020
@Madan: Don’t underestimate the ‘forces’ backing Rajni. After all the back-and-forth that was made on this (remember he pretty much came out and said he would support someone else for CM), him coming into TN politics is nothing but the BJP trying to make inroads into TN. And given how fierce even Hyderabad was this time, he still has a chance, a big one too.
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Madan
December 12, 2020
Voldemort: She has a number of songs listed to her name just this year so I guess the Cine Union blacklist was removed. But just the fact that she was blacklisted for complaining…wow!
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Srinivas R
December 12, 2020
Rajini has been forced into politics by people who have invested a lot in he being a politician and by BJP, with whom he will ultimately merge. Truth is, Vijay or Ajith are more popular stars than Rajini right now. My only prayer is that his standing as a towering personality of Tamil cinema doesnt get too damaged by his political entry.
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vijay
December 12, 2020
Madan it goes against type for IR to speak out on matters like these. Even when a reporter asked him about some offensive song sung by Simbu sometime back he was miffed and called out the reporter on TV. So in a matter like this which is not even connected to music as much as it is connected with harassment, he is bound to be non-committal especially when he is not all that active these days even in the music scene. (Also he has avoided saying ANYTHING on VM in these past few decades, so why now? It doesnt make him look good).
But I would have expected much more from the two stars-turned-politicians who are very much in public space day in and day out. They just wiggled out of it afraid perhaps that their own skeletons will come tumbling out. And a lot more from ARR as well, since his sister admitted on youtube that she knew about this all along, and many a times Rahman’s name was used by VM to lure unsuspecting young singers. And all that Rahman could say was that he “was shocked”. They still planned to include VM in Ponniyin selvan even after all this and then after a public backlash they had to quickly drop their plans.
See this
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H. Prasanna
December 13, 2020
There is a wild irony, from where Rajni started out as an actor and ended up as a star, in his treatment of women characters. Everything he did as a straight villain in his earlier movies were romanticized in his later star outings as lovable and righteous indignation.
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Madan
December 13, 2020
vijay : I thought of that too. That maybe he didn’t want to wade in and be seen as someone with an axe to grind against VM. But seeing as Chinmayi has recorded for him, I felt he should have gone beyond such considerations because this case merited such an intervention.
Yeah not surprised at all at how much ARR and MR tried to save VM. OTOH MR dreams up live in relationships on celluloid and IRL he can’t even speak our against sexual harassment!? 😀 😀 This is too much. And yes, Ulaganayagan and “Superstar yaarunnu ketta badhil onne onnu ” became silent film heroes when it came to this incident. Again, if you don’t put your money where your mouth is, what’s the use of all this rhetorical grandstanding? I am not saying our existing political class is any better but let people see what Kamal OR Rajni are REALLY going to be as politicians. It will be a flop picture set against impossible and unrealistic and frankly delusional expectations. Onnum kayata porthu illai.
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gnanaozhi
December 13, 2020
@madan, out of curiosity, why are “bhaktas” even relevant here?
And if one does support Rajni despite his “misogynist” movies, then how do “dumeels” (to use a similar turn of phrase) reconcile with supporting the likes of MGR’s AIADMK, or the DMK of MK who encourages polygamy, whose MLA’s literally disrobed Jayalalithaa on the floor of the parliament and whose son, Mr Stalin was beaten back and blue by cops during the emergency primarily because of the egregiously excessive harassment of women (esp from Stella Maris) during the time his dad was in power?
That’s supporting pure women’s equality or liberalism?
And I am not even going into what the gossip mills say.
Also you should check out some of the vilest attacks against women Dumeel Kazhagams have made in political speeches in 30-40 years. They would make a sailors ears fall off. They are that vile. Calling women candidates whores is the starting point.
So supporting Dumeels is perfectly okay but somehow supporting Rajnikant makes one both a misogynist and a bhakta?
For the record am a Nota guy in TN state elections.
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Madan
December 13, 2020
gnanaozhi: I said bhakta and not bhakt for a reason. In this context, bhakta means only and only Rajni fans. And by Rajni fan, I mean a certain stripe of Rajni fan who cannot see wrong in anything he does. I am addressing that constituency and saying don’t expect miracles from him. I do not have a high opinion of either Jaya or Stalin/Thiru Mu. Karunanidhi. I tell people that post truth existed in Tamil Nadu long before the word came into popular usage – via the two party-run TV channels. You would remember the episode where Karunanidhi was arrested and both channels presented, with video footage, radically different events (one showing him literally being kicked and dragged into the jeep and the other showing him being treated most respectfully sire). Further, I think of TN politics itself as a gigantic echo chamber and find at least the most vocal politically inclined Tamils to have rather delusional impressions about their state. I am not going to open that debate now but I see Rajni as yet another dismal chapter in idol worship in a supposedly nastika state. Nothing great will come out of it and I am being charitable.
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Yajiv
December 13, 2020
“…yet another dismal chapter in idol worship in a supposedly nastika state.”
A hard-hitting yet unfortunately true statement. We make demigods out of both our politicians & our actors. Is it any wonder that the lines have blurred?
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gnanaozhi
December 13, 2020
@madan, oh okay, makes sense and I fully agree with your assessment.
I figured that given the same constituency you mention, and it’s predilection to high voltage “muh Aryan Brahminical BJP coming, hide your wives, hide your kids, hide your rationalism” cries this was in a similar vein.
Your specific spelling change though makes sense in hindsight.
Post truths in TN politics started the day one anti Tamil (virulently so), allegedly anti theistic but only Hinduphobic Periyar was projected as a savior of Tamils and it has been down hill all the way.
As to his impact? I think electorally he will take away 12-15% vote share, possibly fewer than 10 seats though. This should have interesting outcomes on the shape of the assembly though.
In a hypothetical world of Rajni as CM he will be the same as the old. It is not like he or Kamal for that matter have clarified in any way shape or form their policy vision, but then again which Tamil politician aside from Jaya has. For all her faults at least she could coherently articulate a vision
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Heisenberg
December 14, 2020
Wow, there are so many different discussions going on in this thread and let me try to add something to each one. (This is first time I am seeing some gossip in this blog :D)
Rajinikanth has to be either a political genius or living in an alternative reality. I am wishfully thinking it is the former.
Commonsense dictates it is almost impossible for someone past his prime to plunge into politics 5 months before election and form a government. Wouldn’t he know that already? That’s why he is probably coming in with an exit plan already which he has hinted here and there.
A. “I have never dreamed of being part of assembly, I am not cut for that. My only aim is to be a leader of political party and mentor a government “- i.e., I am not going to compete in election, I am just going to give my voice again.
B. “If I win it’s people’s win, If I lose it’s also people’s loss” – i.e., I take no responsibility on the outcome.
C. He has made problematic statements that could be considered political suicide in Tamilnadu politics. To begin with “Spiritual” politics (seriously wtf), protestors are antisocial elements (sterlite protests), CAA is good for India, Modi-Shah are like Krishna-Arjun, etc.
D. BJP has made inroads in new places like WB, Telangana etc but I am not aware if they are hated there as much as in TN. TN always looks at BJP with suspicion and it wasn’t as bad as now between 2014-17. After Jaya’s death, the indirect way they wielded power in TN govt has really damaged both ADMK and BJP. And with their ‘development’ slogan taking backseat and ‘Hindutva’ taking frontseat, TN has hated the BJP more than ever. On this backdrop, Rajini has never made a serious attempt to dispel rumor that he’s ideologically leaning towards BJP than any other party.
To sum it up, in this gamble Rajini probably knows he has very slim chances of making any gain and has a lot to lose. So he’s pulling a Janakaraj from ‘Arunachalam’ on Tamil people and try to come out of this mess with minimum damage.
or it could be I am living in this alternative reality and Rajini has real chance with BJP backing 😀
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Heisenberg
December 14, 2020
On the gossip part – I don’t think anyone has lived as frankly as Kamal haasan in tamil cine field. As recent as 2 years back he had talked in an interview how he doesn’t believe in one night stand and had always looked for relationship. He even mentioned because of this trait, if you look at actual count (read as sexual partners) in cine field, my count is way less than others. And ofcourse there’s this meta movie ‘Uttama Villain’ where he’s not just an old actor wondering about his legacy, but also a man who has multiple partners who is sincere to each of the woman in his own way. It is unfair to judge kamal’s respect on women because he has separated from few partners.
Even Rajinikanth has made frank statments in his early days. I remember reading in Vikatan few years back when they republished his early interview “There used to be a time when I could not sleep without a woman. Now that has reduced a bit”.
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Heisenberg
December 14, 2020
@Madan
I think it is unfair to expect Ilaiyaraaja to make a statement to support Chinmayi. Although IR speaks unflitered, he has always limited it to music, spirituality, his journey or his idols (MSV, Kannadasan, Jayakanthan, etc).
If at all IR made a statement supporting Chinmayi, the whole issue would have taken a different dimension. It would have been seen as IR settling score with vairamuthu. Unlike vairamuthu, IR has always maintained a dignified silence on his spat with him and doesn’t take any potshots publicly.
The biggest disappoints have been the 4 big names Mani Ratnam, ARR, Kamal and Rajini. 4 biggest names in tamil cinema and also the closest collaborators of Vairamuthu. MR and ARR played innocent that they had no idea about VM’s abusive behavior.
If not for the backlash MR almost collaborated with him again and still hasn’t named explicitly who is writing lyrics for Ponniyin selvan.
When Chinmayi’s started losing work, ARR did not even make a statement like govind vasantha who said Chinmayi will continue to sing in his music unless she prefers otherwise.
Kamal as usual made absurd statements like metoo has been around from Kannagi days and it should be used properly (wtf).
Rajini – Silent as always but he did share stage with vairamuthu publicly on few occassions (notably kaappaan audio release).
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Madan
December 14, 2020
Heisenberg: Partly agree and disagree about what IR speaks on. When you say music, he doesn’t speak purely about how such and such song of his was composed. He has often lashed out at other music directors and often unfairly at that. So…seeing as Chinmayi is a music professional and so is Vairam, the topic was still germane to his interests. I get that it could have been twisted as him acting out his grudge against Vairam but since he has spoken out without caring about public opinion in the past, I would have thought he wouldn’t bother about it. I do agree that, yes, IR not taking a stand was a lot less problematic than what MR and ARR did.
Regarding Kamal’s statement, well, so this is where his reticence doesn’t square with the feminism he has espoused in some of his movies. Where Rajni stands for nothing at all, Kamal takes a stand on a lot of things so he will be expected to uphold them. So…I am not saying that just because he was in many relationships with women, he necessarily disrespects them (I mean Warren Beatty was a feminist and a Liberal Democrat back when they were going extinct in the 80s). But if you connect that with him not coming out in favour of Chinmayi, that paints a different picture. Yes, it’s basically an inconvenient topic for the major stars and for reasons not hard to decipher. That may be unfair but so is their silence on the whole affair. I have to conclude that it’s skeletons in their closet preventing them from supporting her (for fear of somebody vindictively outing them in retaliation).
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Guru
December 14, 2020
@Madan, regarding Chinmayi’s issue or in general MeToo movement, I concur that the victims need to be supported, I completely trust Chinmayi and so many other women who have complained against VM. However, it is not proved legally, and as the popular quote goes, Innocent until proven. In such a scenario, how are the top heads of the industry take a stand ? Let’s just say someone takes a stand with the victim, and over the period of time, the court declares the defendant not guilty, then wouldn’t it damage the reputation of the person who stood with the victim.
In matters concerning law, it is better for anybody (both within and outside the industry) to keep their opinions to themselves, and let the court come to a conclusion. Just my 2 cents.
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Madan
December 14, 2020
Guru: BECAUSE it is the film industry and these are people who have worked many years with VM, I urge that they should have spoken up. They would have known. I don’t buy that they didn’t. And fine, if they don’t want to speak up, don’t, at least don’t work with him until his name is cleared.
And by the same token, why was Chinmayi blacklisted when her accusations HADN’T been proved false? If it is as simple as you say, that Kamal, ARR, MR only wanted to uphold innocent until proven guilty, why not at least speak up against the bullying of Chinmayi to silence her? Sorry, silence sometimes speaks a thousand words and nothing short of a honest mea culpa will convince me of their intentions in this episode.
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Srinivas R
December 14, 2020
My big problem with Rajini and Kamal is that not only did they not condemn Vairamuthu, but actively shared a platform with them which was publicized widely. Rajini during the Kaapan audio launch and Kamal during the opening of his new office.
I have no doubt in my mind that Vairam played no small part in ensuring that Rajini and Kamal are seen close to him and the images are splashed all over the Tamil media. This is nothing more that a predator showing off his powerful connections to ward off his victims. Rajini and Kamal or either complicit or they are too naive to understand this. Either of these cases ensures, at least I, will not vote for them.
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Srinivas R
December 14, 2020
@Heisenberg – you may be underestimating BJP’s reach in TN. At least in and around Coimbatore and Thanjavur, there is a growing support. Lot of my relatives or from that area and they have traditionally been supporters of DMK/ADMK. I see a definite shift at least in my circles. The “hindu victimhood” is a story they believe. It is at least partially driven by the way temples are neglected (allegedly) by HIndu Aranilayam in TN.
Also Thirumamalavan raking up Manusmriti doesn’t serve any purpose other than alienating “on the fence” Hindus. It’s one thing to criticize an ancient text, but to rake it up as a tirade aganst Hindus, is sure to be used by BJP.
If Rajini does contest in elections independently, it may actually be a loss for BJP as the anti DMK votes may get split between BJP and Rajini. Plus some anti ADMK votes which could have stayed within the ADMK/BJP alliance will move out to Rajini.
I agree with @gnanaozhi that Rajini will take some vote share, but i think it will be in the 10% range, similar to what Kamalhasan had in the lok sabha elections.
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Heisenberg
December 14, 2020
@Srinivas R
Yes I do have people in my circle who have fallen for the ‘hindu victim’ ploy, but I do not necessarily see that translate as vote for Rajini/BJP in large scale. It’s the kinda noise that Seeman and his naive followers make. If that sells, DMK wouldn’t have taken 53% vote share in lok sabha poll in 2019.
I agree that issues like manusmriti, karuppar kootam end up alienating ‘ordinary’ Hindus who do not necessarily vote to save their religion. And going forward, in the next 5 months there may be more incidents like this seeking to polarize the voters as much as possible. Testing times for TN.
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brangan
December 14, 2020
Kamal Haasan says he will definitely contest in 2021 polls, place to be announced later
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/kamal-haasan-says-he-will-definitely-contest-2021-polls-place-be-announced-later-139578
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vijay
December 14, 2020
Rajni was not silent about Metoo. There is a press youtube video where he says he supports the movement but quickly adds that “it should not be misused” :-). As if misusing the movement somehow suddenly became a bigger concern when the movement had barely found its feet in the Tamil film industry. Skeletons, skeletons…..
Whoever wins betwen the major parties, Tamilnadu loses. So all you voters just take the 500/1000 Rs envelopes shoved beneath the door from DMK, Dinakaran, ADMK and the likes. Its business as usual, is’nt it?;-) Nothing quite like a freebie especially during these times.
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vijay
December 14, 2020
In these election times in TN, I always somebody like George Carlin here. It is a shame we do not have somebody with his talent and no-nonsense takes on bullshit in politics and films
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KayKay
December 14, 2020
vijay, thanks for sharing that clip of ARR’s sister’s interview. For me, her credibility took a high dive off a steep cliff with respect to her opinion on sexual harassments when she trotted out the time-tested cliche of female artistes needing to dress “appropriately”.
Christ, we’re heading into 2021 and this shit is still being shoveled? By a woman no less.
So, the onus still rests on the woman? Don’t show off too much skin, keep yer head down, and most importantly luv, SMILE.
Got it
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KayKay
December 15, 2020
Rajini’s (cock) teasing of entering politics is akin to George RR Martin blue-balling his fans with the yet to be published 6th Game Of Thrones book (10 years and counting).
It’s too late, the thrill is gone and people have moved on.
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Jallikattu lover
December 15, 2020
People are talking about Rajinikanth vs Kamal Haasan as expected. But, if you had to vote for one person and chose between KamalKanth and Rajini Haasan, who would you vote for? Tell me, and I will tell you the kind of person you are.
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gnanaozhi
December 15, 2020
Am quite amazed @srinivas, @heisenberg that you seem to think “Hindu victimhood” is a ploy.
It is a fact that,
1) only Hindu temples come under state control
2) Bolly and Kollywood only see fit to bash the Hindu faith – case in point, one scene with an evangelical faith healer in that RJ Balaji movie was axed, ONE scene! Kamal tried to show a few Muslims as terrorists in Vroopam and he had to apologise and kowtow before various Islamic orgs before they regally allowed it to be released, with cuts.
3) RTI is a deeply discriminatory law
4) we still dont have the UCC, and in the much praised “interfaith marriages”, a Hindu woman actually leaves a far more equal opportunity law code to one that is explicitly lesser (inheritance rights, polygamy etc)
I could go on ad nauseum on this.
To spin your argument around, the people of TN had fallen for the pseudo secularism in the name of “rationalism” and “atheism” and the people are seeing through it for the garbage it is.
When a handful of children’s homes get crores, 30-40l / child in the name of charity, and when 8/10 top FCRA incoming orgs over a decade are evangelical orgs, it is not some false narrative. It is a reality and yes the BJP harnesses it but then hey, when an AIMIM is “secular”, why should they be begrudged it. For this country to truly heal, Nehruvian secularism and post Mandal caste based politics needs to die.
Which is exactly why despite the “BJP anti Dalit” Narrative that’s flogged every month, they are increasingly voting the BJP.
The USHV (United spectrum of Hindu votes) is coalescing and TN might be late to the party but it is getting there.
The only solution? A truly secular State without any particular group being given “first right on resources” (hint MMS said that and he was secular)
To those scoffing as at the BJP’s chances, let me remind you in Bengal 2006 elections it had a vote share of 3% (similar to TN numbers)
The blatant polarisation by the TMC has pushed it to 11% in 2016. Though the 2019 assembly elections were a shocker @41%
Ironically this demonisation and I would argue devalidation of the Hindu electorate by the urban middle class intelligentsia is exactly why every election they predict the demise of the BJP and are shocked to see it gaining strength.
Let’s not forget, Tamil Hindus are very devout, as devout as those in the Gangetic plains or Maharashtra or Karnataka, decades of Dravidian propaganda dimmed it a bit, but it never went away. It is now simmering.
My bold prediction, Rajni will open with a 10-12% vote share, provide outside support to whoever forms the govt. But in a decade, the BJP will become a major pole.
Personally am sick of the Hinduphobia of the Kazhagams, and time they were sent into the pasture. Or they reform, like Kejriwal did.
Another bold prediction, AAp Will in a few years turn harder right than the BJP to occupy that space and many parties will follow.
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Aman Basha
December 15, 2020
@gnanozhi: “Bolly and Kollywood only see fit to bash the Hindu faith”- If you’re following that mindless Gems of Bollywood page promoted by one of those Swarajya magazine writers and basing your perspective on that, let me lay it out for you- Bollywood, Tollywood and Kollywood are not secular….. because they make movies only about Hindus… An art form indulging in stereotypes, and especially that an art form like Cinema, trying to appeal in the widest way, would use stereotypes to appeal to the majority audience (Hindus) is natural.
One can provide innumerable examples of stereotypes of Hindus, Brahmins, Muslims and Christians in any industry, so please keep this grand theory to yourself. An exception to this could be the Brahmin bashing in Tamil Cinema, but that’s an aftereffect of the particular Periyar movement.
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Aman Basha
December 15, 2020
Here’s my bold prediction: Kamal might garner a bigger vote share than Rajni or at least be more successful. And even bolder, Indian 2 or Vikram could potentially out gross Annathe in 2021.
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Srinivas R
December 15, 2020
@gnanaozhi, I am not underestimating BJP’s strength in TN at all. I am in fact saying a lot of people are underestimating. Yes, the HRCE which controls temples has a lot to answer for.
Where i differ from you is that, Hindus in India are in danger. As far as I see, even in TN, in spite of rationalism (or whatever is left of it), dravidian parties, TN is a devout Hindu state. Also all major public and private enterprises are controlled by Hindus in TN and India. I don’t see that changing. I am unable to take the stand that Hindus are danger, because my lived reality and what I see around me is different.
About your predictions, Rajini may well get 10% vote share but won’t win enough seats to be in any influential posiiton (IMO). I am with you on the second prediction though. AAP is already half way there.
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Yajiv
December 15, 2020
“Rajini’s (cock) teasing of entering politics is akin to George RR Martin blue-balling his fans…”
LMAO 😂😂
No one knows when/how KayKay comes (in the comments section), but when he comes it’s always at the right moment
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kaizokukeshav
December 16, 2020
“But sometimes relationships don’t last. People change. They are no longer the person you fell in love with. Or sometimes a man/woman could find out that monogamy is just not part of their DNA.” – The point to not is there are too many relationships that didn’t even care for a second chance. Then all these relationships are tied with movies they worked on, which means Kamal’s actual wife was his career and the rest are just girl friends whom he broke-up with.
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kaizokukeshav
December 16, 2020
The problem is Rajini is too timid, and his fans expected some big hyped ‘saviour of the state’ role in politics like his movies. That’s a failed strategy take for eg. Chiranjeevi who was a more shrewd politician than Rajini or Kamal who had to merge the party. But Rajini is sane enough to know his limits and end up as a helping hand for right-wingers in TN. That might counter some of the huge ground level popularity that is left leaning.
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gnanaozhi
December 16, 2020
@aman, I don’t need any other website to tell me what I have felt and experienced as a cinephile for decades now.
Like I said, R J Balaji can make a movie lampooning the Hindu faith, but dare he introduce 1 scene lampooning Evangelical fake healers.
My position is simple, either you have freedom of expression rules for all, or none. You can’t selectively apply it and then say “stereotyping”.
I dare an AK to make a PK but following the rules above, he will have lynch mobs waiting to Kamlesh Tiwari him in an instant.
@srinivas, I think you are going after a strawman, I never said “Hindus are in danger” but that the Hindu voter has a lot of legitimate grievances. When these are disregarded (am not saying you here in particular), it only irks even the fence sitters.
You rightly said it, I personally know many neutral Hindus who voted DMK / AIADMK for decades want to switch votes purely because of the antics of the Karupar Kutam, Thol Thiruma etc.
Like I said, we need to be a fully secular state in the true spirit of the word, not this bastardised Nehruvian secularism which is dog whistle for “minority appeasement” + “breaking up the Hindu vote into castes”.
Interesting though that “Hindu victimhood” is often derided based on our own lived experiences, nonsense like “GeNOcIde” or “RiSInG inTolERAncE” are accepted by many in the “””left””” “””liberal””” circles.
I mean Nehru, Indira, Rajiv all oversaw wholesale massacre, but the only difference is, they controlled the media apparatus and simply buried it deep and the Cong ecosystem simply acted as though it never happened.
So for instance during Op Polo, 100,000-250,000 Hindus and Muslims were killed, but Nehru refused to release the enquiry commission report, it is buried to this day. Disclaimer, it was apparently released in 2013 but no public copy is available.
Objectively, based on NCRB data, we are at the lowest ever deaths and injuries caused by communal violence. Stray acts though are used to push the narrative of RiSInG inTolERAncE like the one yesterday from UP where even international media pushed blatant fake news (about an interfaith married girl being forced to have an abortion) then amplified by the likes of the Wire and NDTV and another bit of post truth was added to the myth of RiSInG inTolERAncE
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Aman Basha
December 16, 2020
@gnanozhi: “Nehru, Indira, Rajiv all oversaw wholesale massacre”-I know right!!! Damn these corrupt politicians and their apparatus which cover up their evil deeds. Sadly, it hasn’t changed much, we did elect with an overwhelming majority twice, a CM who oversaw a massacre in broad daylight and under whose stewardship, jackshit has been done about the economy either. Our standards of leadership are clearly dropping day-by-day.
BTW, Patel was mostly in charge of Hyderabad, Operation Polo was entirely his brainchild.
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Madan
December 16, 2020
gnanaozhi: Many of your points resonate with me. At the same time, I want to push back a little on this culture war.
That is, that I think the angry middle class Hindu’s fixation on this narrative of victimhood, be it legitimate or otherwise, only gives the BJP room to not have to perform well on the economy.
Take Maharashtra. Yes, I do understand that Fadnavis being from Nagpur would prioritize Nagpur projects. This was a given when he was made CM. But why should that happen at the cost of starting and then simply stalling projects in Mumbai? Rather not start executing them in that case, right? I mean, is Hindu khatre mein the excuse for there being 1km flyovers under construction for more than 5 years?
And yet, it is not the urban middle class in Mumbai that rejected BJP. It was the heartland in fact that returned some seats to NCP, thus allowing for the possibility of a three way alliance between SS-NCP-Cong, one that was not possible in 2014.
I will honestly confess that it was this cultism that completely turned me off the BJP, having given them a chance in 2014. It felt like madness then to vote for Cong and still does and I didn’t think AAP was ready just yet for a national mandate. But I am not going to sit and enable a cult of fanatics who get reflexively defensive at even legitimate criticism of the govt or of Modi. And don’t try to tell me I am assailing a strawman. I dealt with real life bhakts and learned to stop engaging them because it was a fruitless pursuit; it’s quite possible that as someone who lives where the politics is more aligned with the mainstream, my experiences are radically different from yours.
I have also seen how some of them – BJP supporters – would change their arguments and get more sympathetic the moment I told them I had voted for BJP in 2014 and would then voice their own frustrations with the govt. But why should that matter? Even if I voted for Cong, I am not your enemy. I am just another citizen like you. Fucking stop seeing every critic of BJP as anti national, it’s annoying as hell and painful.
This absolute “Hail and Kill” nihilism towards any and all opposition makes it unpalatable for me to align with BJP for the foreseeable future. Unless they stop enabling crazies through their IT cell, I am never contemplating a return to their fold. In fact, it’s past that. The craziness has gained Frankenstenian proportions now and unless the central leadership starts loudly admonishing them, it will only get worse.
So, again, I hear you on the follies of the Gandhis and it always bothered me that Indira and Rajiv in particular were let off so lightly by the same media that rightly gave relentless coverage to the 2002 riots. But that’s history. Unlike some of you, I am a voter with my feet firmly grounded in the present. I think you are all mistaken in fearing a Cong comeback so much that you give BJP such an easy pass. You need to start holding them to account. It’s well past time. Holding them to account doesn’t necessarily mean voting against them next time. But unless you threaten them with that option, they are not going to listen, they will continue listening to the extreme right wing only at the exclusion of all other voices. Now if THAT’S the kind of govt you want, yes, go right ahead and enjoy it.
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hari
December 16, 2020
Srinivas thanks for clarifying your stand on HRCE. Our kuladeivam temple which was forcibly taken 50 years back now has only 10% of its farmlands left for the temple and only 25% of its produce given to the temple for daily needs. Rest all are swaha. I dare the Government to take any church/mosque land before we call ourselves secular.
It is altogether another matter that BJP also only pays lip service to temples being taken over. They have done the same in Uttarakhand.
Awesome comments Gnanaozhi.
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Heisenberg
December 16, 2020
I mean Nehru, Indira, Rajiv all oversaw wholesale massacre, but the only difference is, they controlled the media apparatus and simply buried it deep and the Cong ecosystem simply acted as though it never happened.
@Gnanaozhi – Bravo for your selective outrage.
Oh and about “controlling the media apparatus” – Thank God those days are over and today we have excellent media in the form of Arnab, Amish, Sudhir, Kanwal, etc that stand up to government and expose inconvenient truths.
//introduce 1 scene lampooning Evangelical fake healers.//
Didn’t we just have a whole movie ‘Trance’ (produced, directed and acted by non-christians)?
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Yajiv
December 16, 2020
@gnanaozhi:
Just one comment. What’s with the random capitalisation? It’s driving my OCD crazy!
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hari
December 17, 2020
All outrages are selective. And they are ably used by all parties. So if the leftists are calling the rights outrage selective, then they are hypocritical at best.
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kaizokukeshav
December 18, 2020
@Madan: You pointed the entire political situation of the country and I am sure Modi will be excited to read that answer too. ‘Congress mukt bharat’ has been the sole agenda since 2014 for Modi-Shah and what they are craving is that, the youth to build an alternative party to Congress or any biased parties. I don’t think until that opposition is built, BJP or their blind supporters are not gonna change their voice because BJP is content enough to settle as biggest party and keep toying with the current opposition parties until forever.
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Madan
December 18, 2020
“I don’t think until that opposition is built, BJP or their blind supporters are not gonna change their voice because BJP is content enough to settle as biggest party and keep toying with the current opposition parties until forever.” – Yes and unfortunately that new party will only split voteshare further.
I think either (a) AAP must merge into Cong or (b) Cong into AAP and in both cases, Kejriwal must lead the new party. Let Rahul baba’s incompetent party continue as a Cong in name like the Cong Syndicate that got decimated by Cong (I) in 1971. But I would really like those in Cong who can still make a valuable contribution move to AAP. And AAP too needs to do something to move beyond being a Delhi based party.
When Parliament was convened to discuss the Delhi riots, it was Kapil Sibal and Anand Sharma who provided the strongest rebuttal to Amit Shah’s claims. Some of the Cong seniors are still useful as politicians with intellectual heft and experience that other parties lack. Unfortunately, their governing apparatus is wasted in the hands of Pappu. It doesn’t matter at this point even if we say Pappu’s stunts are as malignant as Modi announcing demo at 8 PM (heck, he announced a national lockdown at 8 PM, wtf is up with that time of day). Pappu is so overexposed on media as a clown that he will never be able to redeem his image and be accepted as an alternative PM to Modi. And until then, Cong will keep losing and help BJP stay in power.
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Yajiv
December 18, 2020
@hari:
Since both sides are guilty of selective outrage, as you so nicely described, and since both sides here have called out selective outrage on the other side (I need only point to any one of @gnanaozhi’s stream-of-consciousness comments for an example), It is hypocritical to call the side that you’re not on hypocritical for calling out selective outrage 😊
Wow I think I just out TR-ed myself 😂
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Heisenberg
December 29, 2020
Rajini steps out before stepping in. He may be trolled for few weeks, but at least he escapes the embarrassment of political failure.
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Aman Basha
December 29, 2020
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/text-of-rajinikanth-announcement-no-political-plunge-1754151-2020-12-29
Whatever forces were trying to push, have now been told to back off by God himself 😉
Always said, he’s going to ditch the saffron Kamal flag and hitch along with Kamal Haasan instead. Looks very obvious now.
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Satya
December 29, 2020
Chiranjeevi must be smiling now…
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Bala
December 29, 2020
Having been a Rajni fan throughout my life, I was hugely disappointed with him for caving in to pressure and agreeing to do something he was not willing to do. I am glad that he has finally done the right thing, ie, what he truly believes.
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Voldemort
December 29, 2020
In a matter of 3 weeks, from “promoting spiritual politics, registering party in Jan 21” to now.
One wonders if these “forces” are only spiritual.
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