Cinema, Politics and Populism in Tamil Nadu

TAmil Nadu has been witnessing the rear, role and wallop of populism in political relation for o'er sevener decades. Today, the decay and perils of populism appears to be beyond any redemption. There was a time that politics in Tamil Nadu needed an impulse of populism as a push factor for promoting Dravidian political ideology and cultural identity politics with remarkable social history and intellectual background. The cinema by historical coincidence became the medium and energetic vehicle of this early populism that several leaders including C.N.Annadurai (Anna) and M.Karunanidhi had foreseen its potential but underestimated its limitations of sabotaging politics and democracy. The rise of matinee idol M.G.Ramachandran (MGR) and the emergence of MGR phenomenon were the beginning of political recession and shrinking of political space to be replaced by a unique political culture anchored in cinema with electoral influence.Tamil cinema moved from an era of social, cultural, political resistance during the period 1940 -1970 to become a source of popular entertainment for the masses with a function of depoliticising them since the beginning of 1970s. Cinema became not just an entertainment for the masses in Tamil Nadu as in other parts of the country but also served as an anesthesia by systematically erasing their collective memory and critical consciousness. A historical fact that Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) could not defeat or unseat MGR and his All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) from power during his tenure as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 to 1987 after he parted his ways with Karunanidhi and DMK in 1972. MGR’s successor J.Jayalalitha (a popular actress who also came from the cinema industry) served the state as chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years until her passing away in 2016. Karunanidhi who served as chief minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades cannot be classified as a popular cinema industry person alone but he owed his rise and influence in politics to his association with the cinema industry for a long period of time as a powerful story and script-writer besides his association with the Dravida Kazhagam, Periyar and Anna. Karunanidhi was also a thinker, writer and orator par excellence who managed to keep the party and its ideological orientation intact despite the tide of populism and transition in political culture of the state. In certain ways he was a co-architect, victim, critic and survivor of the era of populism that he could neither defeat nor disown.Time and destiny revealed the power and paradoxes of populism in Tamil Nadu politics. If the rise of MGR can be acknowledged as the high noon of the making the myth, glamour and charismatic display of populism in Tamil Nadu politics, the emergence of box-office actor Vijay as a new contestant in the political space of Tamil Nadu reveals the dark and downside of the populism in the state. Vijaykanth who emerged like a whirlwind leader with a promise was short-circuited by lack of patience and his family. All others like Rajnikanth and Kamalahasan who emerged like mushrooms after the passing away of Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha ran their political shows to fled the field or fold their ambitions to a single seat in the Rajya Sabha ultimately for want of convictions and character. Vijay seems to have learnt his lessons from watching the lives and failures of Vijayakanth, Rajnikanth and Kamalahasan. But he never seemed to have learnt from the life and successes of MGR. MGR was a large hearted man with genuine attachment towards the poor and common people with memories and lessons from his own life. Above all, MGR was a Congressman at heart who switched his loyalty towards the DMK because he had foreseen the shifting of currents and dynamics of Tamil Nadu politics. He was introduced by Karunanidhi to Anna who embraced him with enormous trust and compassion. The departure of the legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan from the Anna’s camp in the Dravidian movement changed the course of political destiny for Sivaji Ganesan and politics after Anna.MGR was the creation of the time and beginning of an era of populism in Tamil Nadu politics. Given the reign and influence of MGR in cinema and politics, anyone and everyone in the cinema industry wanted to succeed or emulate him thinking that cinema is the only right track and trailer for real power without understanding that politics requires lot more than acting like a hero on the screen. The box office hits, hoarded wealth, unaccounted money, backing of business corporate houses and publicity campaigns with naïve and rogue fan clubs made so called super stars appear as peoples’ heroes, problem solvers and solution providers to all crisis in life and politics. In real life who never left their comfort nests of movie caravan, five star hotels and holiday resorts but wanted to reach people through the fan clubs and believed they can rule the state. The greatest paradox of Tamil Nadu politics in the last three decades that no one came forward to succeed Kamaraj, Anna, Kakkan and Jeevanandam (Jeeva).All actors want to succeed MGR and even this is an underestimation of who MGR was and his legacy in Tamil Nadu politics. If MGR had not rebelled and created a rival forum against DMK, the bipolarity of Tamil Nadu politics would have long disappeared. The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) would have entered as major contestants in the political arena of Tamil Nadu. Thus MGR helped to redraw and restrict the domain of politics within and among the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu. This is one of the core and critical reasons that BJP wants to climb on the back of AIADMK and ultimately emerge as an alternative to DMK before bringing curtain down on the Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu. The first wave of populism associated with MGR phenomenon resulted in the gradual decline and decay of ideology in Tamil Nadu politics. The contemporary trends in populism indicate the erosion of identity politics including the history and social basis of the Dravidian movement. This is the real threat and challenge of the prevailing populism rooted in the political culture of cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu.Prof Ramu Manivannan is a Professor and Former Head of the Department of Politics & Public Administration, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is currently the Director, Multiversity – Centre for Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Kurumbapalayam Village, Vellore District, Tamil Nadu.