After the iconic actor MGR, it could be the turn of superstar Rajinikanth to enter politics on his 67 birthday, December 12, said informed sources close to the actor, sending a strong signal to all political leaders in Tamil Nadu.
Sources further added that being a spiritualist, the actor might not join any party but form a separate one. However, the BJP has been wooing the actor to join them as the' Thalaiva' is more of a centrist, whose presence might attract many neutral voters in the state.
However, Rajanikanth's contemporary Kamal Haasan too had made an announcement on his 63 birthday, November 7 to enter politics marking the day with the launch of an app called "Maiam" whistle to "connect with people". The actor has been strong in recent days vocalizing his opinions on AIADMK along with the controversial issues created by BJP over the demonetization and the GST.
Otherwise, Rajinikanth had kept himself busy with his ambitious project 'Enthiran 2.0', the Rs.400-crore action-based science fiction film and another film 'Kaala' which will be released in 2018.
The trend for film actors to join politics started from MG Ramachandra popularly known as MGR in the mid-1970s. He went on to become Chief Minister of the state for over ten years between 1977 and 1987.
Upon his death, his co-star J.Jayalalithaa took upon herself the mantle of AIADMK party of MGR and carried out the baton until her death last December. Though AIADMK is still in power, the "film legend political vacuum" is still there to be filled and both Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan are clearly vying for the slot.
Although Rajinikanth is unlikely to involve in caste-centric politics, analysts believe that his entry might create a ripple in the political scenario of Tamil Nadu making a threat to other political parties including Kamal Haasan.
But there are also few disadvantages in Thalaiva's journey as the minorities would look up to him more as a pro-BJP man though he provided support to both DMK-TMC and AIADMK-BJP combine in the past.
