Not an easy announcement for both ends – the one who makes it and the crores who listen to it. Actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s statement Tuesday came like this as he informed, “Indian-2 will be my last film.”
Kamal seems to be very clear about the path of choice as he clarified that his party Makkal Needhi Maiam will be contesting in the 2019 parliamentary elections and it would not be fair if he rides two horses since one of them will be a public-service horse.
However, his fans, who love him for his intelligent cinema, could not accept it. “Once Kamal’s only profession and business was cinema. Whether it was a success or a failure, both would happen within cinema. It is not that we do not like his being in politics: but we like the actor in him more than the politician. According to me, it is going to be a great loss for the Indian cinema fraternity,” said Hari Kishore, an ardent fan of ‘actor’ Kamal Haasan.
There is also a different section of fans who have turned followers of politician Kamal Haasan. They welcome this move stating that it is a ‘bold’ decision. “Kamal has done more than enough for cinema. His masterpiece works in 60 years as K’town Aandavar will be sufficient for generations of filmmakers and actors to take references for learning the nuances of the art. Simply put, he is a walking dictionary of cinema. Now it’s time for him to push himself into public service. Also, Tamilnadu, at this point of time, badly needs a leader with vision and social responsibility,” said Karthik, an MNM youth wing cadre from Mannargudi.
Kamal’s last film, Indian-2 is a sequel to his movie of the same name released in 1996. At the time, Indian was known for its real-time replication of government offices and how people suffer from corrupt officers in public service departments. With elections in 2019, a sequel to the movie will likely create an impact among voters, who want a change.
But, there was another announcement from Kamal in October. According to that, Kamal wanted to make a sequel of his 1992 rural drama Devar Magan. He also faced criticism that he was trying to trigger caste ideas again like how he did during the first instalment of the film.
It was also touted that Kamal was making a trilogy Vishwaroopam-2, Indian-2 and Devar Magan-2 to give solutions to the three problems plaguing society – terrorism, corruption and communalism.
It was said he was planning it well like MGR and Vijayakanth, who propagated their political ideologies on screen before contesting elections.
In the midst of all this, Kamal opening up about Indian-2 without any evidence of Devar Magan’s sequel has disappointed a lot of his fans.
PRESSURE ON RAJINI
Ever since Kamal and Rajinikanth gained star value in cinema, they were seen as arch-rivals among their fans. This continued as both actors aired their political interests at the same time post the demise of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
However, Kamal was quick with his decisions and launched his party – Makkal Needhi Maiam, while Rajini was keen on organising his fans and bringing all fan clubs under one roof as Rajini Makkal Mandram. Simultaneously, he is also on a cinema signing spree as his movies are witnessing high frequency of releases in a never-seen-before rate in the past 20 years. It is also rumoured that Rajini is soon going to collaborate again in a movie with filmmaker Murugadoss and Sun Pictures.
With Kamal announcing his retirement from cinema, now the eyes of political analysts and fans are on Rajini, who will be under pressure to make an announcement on his political entry soon.