Ministers and leaders of the AIADMK saved a movie starring Joseph Vijay, one of the mega stars of Tamil film industry from a possible failure in the box-office.
The movie Sarkar which hit the screens on Tuesday as a Diwali gift to the fans of Vijay grossed more than `30 crore on day one itself, according to industry sources. The previous incident of a movie creating collection record on day one was Mersal, the 2017 release by Vijay himself which grossed `20 crore. (There are two Vijays in Tamil films, Joseph Vijay and Sethupati Vijay).
Interestingly, the move Mersal shot into fame because of the protagonist’s taunting remarks about demonetisation. This had earned the wrath of the BJP. But this time, it is the AIADMK which is at the receiving end of the story line as director AR Murugadoss has cast Varalaxmi as a caricature of late Jayalalithaa, former Chief Minister and party supremo. What adds fuel to fire is the fact that Sarkar has been produced by Sun Movies, owned by the first family of the DMK.
Film actor Vijay had tumultuous relations with the DMK before the 2011 Assembly election and he had campaigned for the AIADMK in the hustings. This was reportedly due to the denial of theatres to screen Vijay’s movies at the instance of the Maran brothers who own the Sun Movies. The mega star and the Marans had a business rivalry at that time and it was Jayalalithaa who stood with the actor according to an AIADMK insider.
‘Sarkar’, though a potboiler movie from the Kodambakkam dream factories, stands out because of the ridiculing of the free bee culture prevailing in Tamil Nadu. The pre-release observations made by the ministers added to the Unique Selling Proposition of the movie, says Nakulan Abhijit, an avid movie watcher. “Had the AIADMK leaders ignored the taunting, this movie would not have made any impact other than that of yet another Vijay number,” said Abhijit.
Kadambur C Raju, minister for information and C V Shanmugham, minister for law issued warnings to the director of the movie to remove the scenes depicting the ruling party in poor light. “We will discuss the issue in the party and consult the chief minister for further action,” said Raju.
“Through this movie, an attempt is made to instigate violence in society. It is not less than a terrorist instigating people for violence. It attempts to pull down a democratically elected government. We will take action against the actor and the team,” said Shanmugham.
The movie comes at a time when fans of Vijay believe that the super star is planning to enter politics. They point out the dialogues penned for him by the script writers of Sarkar. If Vijay joins mainstream politics, Tamil Nadu would see a galaxy of stars vying for the post of Chief Minister. Kamal Haasan, who describes himself as Ulaga Nayagan (Universal Hero), Rajanikanth (king of styles) have already made known their political dreams.
Sarat Kumar and Vijayakanth are already there in the political arena of Tamil Nadu. Vishal, another actor in his 40s too has announced his plans for a political career in Tamil Nadu.
Whether Tamil Nadu politics has space for this many stars will be known only durng the 2019 Lok Sabha election.