Those were the days when MGR, NTR and Jayalalita became the Chief Ministers with their star power transformed from film screen to politics. Can democratic India see such a phenomenon again?
Forget about becoming the CM, almost every actor is making a futile attempt to become an MLA these days. We have seen Pawan Kalyan, who miserably lost the election in both the Assembly constituencies where he contested from in 2019.
Now Kamal Hasan, who made his debut in Tamil Nadu polls has lost the election in Coimbatore constituency. He missed the opportunity to become an MLA from his own Makkal Neethi Mayyam Party. He has a huge following in Tamil Nadu but that didn't help. All those who contested from his party also lost.
Khshboo, the actress who contested from Chennai Thousand Lights Segment also lost as a BJP candidate.
Suresh Gopi, the Malayalam hero also lost the election in Trissur, Kerala. Same is the plight of some actors in West Bengal. Actress Sayantika Benarjee from TMC and actor Yash Das Gupta from BJP lost the election.
The only actor who won is Udayanidhi Stalin from Tamil Nadu. But it can be said without any doubt that his father's image and DMK wave brought him the victory but not his image as an actor.
The people have become immune to star power. They don't fall flat for film stars and vote for them.
Rajnikanth understood this phenomenon and kept away from politics. Chiranjeevi tasted the bitterness and so not turned towards politics again. Vijayashanti is there in politics for name sake but she has no impact to show.
