Vijay and the regrets of Rajinikanth

As Joseph Vijay led the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) close to victory in the milestone Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu last week, this writer kept pondering on the possible reflections of another matinee idol, an older and arguably more illustrious man, who harboured such ambitions for eons; who kept on sending mixed signals over it; who may have felt such success should have been due him, but if and only if (in his view) circumstances had been more helpful.

Oh, how he must have loved the idea of jumping into the political cauldron and emerging like a don in Tamil politics, just like his cinema predecessors? As the election results rolled in, this writer couldn’t help but think about the possible sighs, stares, and punchlines an enigmatic figure like Rajinikanth—the superstar of the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s—would have delivered to crazed fans. After the results, he congratulated Vijay and the TVK. To me, an irony of ironies.

Male Tamil stars like Vijay (and even Ajith Kumar and Suriya) derive their cinematic persona from Rajinikanth, who in turn drew his from M G Ramachandran. What are their unsubtle characteristics that hark back seven decades? They are champions of the underdog, pro-poor, anti-rich, anti-corrupt, anti-powerful, protectors and promoters of Tamil pride, Tamil heteronormative masculinity, and machismo (and moustaches). They are ever-helpful next-door neighbours going out of the way to aid the aged, the disabled, and the indigent, and at the same time, wooing that (usually) fair-skinned heroine (or two). They bring to life many aspirations and fantasies coursing through the veins of Tamilians, through some ‘punch dialogues’, signalling veiled or not-so-veiled messages on their messianic nature, imminent social transformation, and their entry with a bang into politics.

Across many of his hits, Vijay dished out an updated avatar of Rajinikanth, who had, in turn, extended and updated the MGR persona. In mass entertainers, cliché after cliché after cliché has produced innumerable commercial sensations over the last 70 years of Tamil cinema. Many of these films were mind-numbing, perhaps helping to enthrone their stars. Minimal subtlety is a striking idiom of many of these popular star vehicles.

As the historians’ cliché goes, what looked impossible once, after the watershed, now seems inevitable. It’s tempting to think that Vijay arrived at the right time, in a post-Jayalalitha, and -Karunanidhi era, in a vacuum awaiting capture. Yet the perils were genuine, and the stakes huge. Vijay displayed relatively clear thinking in sticking to seeming non-negotiables in Tamil politics: embodying Dravidian-ness, appearing critical of Hindutva, yet portraying the incumbent DMK as its immediate adversary. He either espoused or eschewed some cliché or norm of Tamil political life. All this through his huge fan base cultivated over decades. It’s unfair to think Vijay happened to only capitalise on the ground his forerunner Rajinikanth paved for him to leverage and steer, using his own stamp and tune. Truth is, if Vijay could do this now, what stopped Rajinikanth from biting the electoral bullet earlier? His fan following was arguably mightier.

It’s one of the great ‘what ifs’: Why did Rajinikanth not take the plunge? Yes, his stardom paralleled the DMK and the AIADMK at their peak over the last 40 years. Still, cinema stars like N T Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh gambled and played the big game in line with their reel persona. In somewhat easier circumstances, so has Vijay. It could have easily gone awry for him, too. Yet he succeeded simply because of his ability, like a true superstar, to play the big game and set it up over many years. In contrast, even Kamal Haasan has shown hardiness, although he was never as popular as Rajinikanth. A much lesser star like the late Vijayakanth, too, attempted to overcome his limitations and circumstances.

Now, a younger Vijay makes one reassess an older Rajinikanth, and still makes one ponder: why didn’t the latter have the conviction to enter politics? Unlike the reel Rajini, perhaps the real Rajini is more human than hero, fearful of failure, sceptical of succeeding. Yet the truth is, he did have a chance, even if he had to fight two titans at the peak of their dominance. That he didn’t take it will probably remain a regret for the man himself; and his choice may also have denied the rest of us an alternate story arc with all the trappings of a full-blown mass entertainer.

The writer teaches at the School of Film, Media and Creative Arts, R V University, Bengaluru.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.