Pinarayi Vijayan gave ample proof of his support to Mukesh when he attended a program to launch Mukesh’s son’s movie career. A bit of flashback first. CPM leader and Rajya Sabha MP K. Chathunni Master formed a production house as part of the movement’s cultural mission in the late 1970s. ‘Janashakti Films’ was built on lofty ideals. This was supposed to be a collective to nurture movies that reflected leftist ideas.
Unfortunately, the company went kaput, dragging down the reputation of Chathunni Master with it. The party toughened its stance to enforce discipline and to keep it away from the degrading effect of the glam business. The veteran leader was eventually shown the door.
Cut to the present. Actors have become demigods. Star power has become integral in winning elections, even for a cadre party like the CPM. The party opened its door to anyone with popular appeal, not just fellow travelers with a political background.
For the first time in the history of Kerala, the state has two MPs and two MLAs from among movie actors. While Innocent was elected as a CPM MP from Chalakkudy, the BJP picked Suresh Gopi as a Rajya Sabha MP to force its entry into the Kerala psyche. M. Mukesh and K.B. Ganesh Kumar were elected to the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
Actor Mammootty has long been associated with the CPM as the chairman of a television channel the party owns.
The opposition United Democratic Front had also given a shot at star power by fielding Jagadeesh against Ganesh Kumar at Pathanapuram in last year’s assembly election. Politicians and celebrities never wasted a chance to rub shoulders with each other.
The air of bonhomie was shattered when the police arrested actor Dileep, arguably the most influential person in the whole of the industry, for plotting the sexual assault of an actress in February.
Dileep fans could not digest the misfortune that has befallen the actor. How could this happen when we had such a friendly government, they wonder. Mammootty claimed to be helpless even in controlling the deluge of reports in the Kairali TV, forget calling the top cops.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan soon realized the misstep in ruling out a conspiracy in the initial stage of investigation. He was just echoing the information supplied by the police then but he did not want to stand by it once the picture became clearer.
He corrected a police officer who said there may not be any more arrests for want of political approval. The chief minister and the police chief had to prove themselves in the face of stiff criticism of the home department even from within the ruling coalition.
Party MLA Mukesh, however, gravely miscalculated his steps. The actor had already tested the patience of his party men with his acts both within the Assembly and outside it. He drew flak for his outbursts after a meeting of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes (AMMA), from the district committee and the area committee. A CPM minister who visited Kollam apparently chided the party’s mayor for the decision to field the actor as a candidate in the first place.
The CPM leadership is also disappointed with Innocent, who was chosen as a party candidate in the general election at the insistence of Mammootty. Yet the party does not want to bar them from working with the AMMA. Party secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan gave a clear signal when he said that the party did not want the association disbanded, a demand raised by the opposition and CPM veteran V.S. Achuthanandan.
Mammootty was peeved at former chief minister Oommen Chandy and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala when the Youth Congress and other outfits took out a march to his residence, where an emergency meeting of the association was underway in the aftermath of Dileep’s arrest. The protesters withdrew after the command from the top.
Yet the senior actors could not have everything they wanted. Some of them argued that Dileep deserved only a suspension until he was proved guilty but youngsters including Prithviraj Sukumaran would not settle for anything less than a dismissal.
The opposition had to take a step back in their push against Innocent and Mukesh when Congress MLA Anwar Sadath was dragged into the picture. Sadath finds it difficult to explain his close connections with Dileep in and around Aluva. The MLAs including Mukesh and Sadath had to face police interrogators but the political leadership does not want to persecute the legislators for their personal connections.
The chief minister gave ample proof of his support to Mukesh when he attended a program to launch Mukesh’s son’s movie career.
The CPM has come a long way since it dissociated itself from Chathunni Master’s endeavor. Yet the party and other political masters would want to sail along the popular will. Even the cinema fraternity fears that a wall of distrust is growing between celebrities and the people.
