As Rajinikanth abandons political quest, fans pick up pieces

Chennai: While superstar Rajinikanth is set to return to Chennai on Friday from the US where he underwent a health check-up and is readying for his new Tamil release in November, some of his fans are still picking up the pieces from his abandoned political quest

Chennai: While superstar Rajinikanth is set to return to Chennai on Friday from the US where he underwent a health check-up and is readying for his new Tamil release in November, some of his fans are still picking up the pieces from his abandoned political quest.

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A dejected SM Rabik has left Rajinikanth’s fan club in Madurai, of which he was one of the founding members since 1977. He was also working as part of the Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM), a conglomeration of all his fans clubs launched when the superstar announced his entry into politics in December 2017. “I’ve relieved myself from everything since he has decided not to pursue it,” says Rabik. “I was never interested in any other political party. But I was waiting for decades for him to enter politics,” he said.

RMM was packed with Rajinikanth’s cult following, with no background in politics. But they turned into his foot soldiers as he began from scratch.

Another fan and RMM functionary, who wanted his identity protected, resigned from a private software company in Chennai, three days after Rajinikanth announced his exit due to excessive trolling he faced in his office and online. The actor returned from his shooting from the sets of Annathe and on December 29, 2020, he announced that he would not pursue politics due to his health condition. “I had canvassed for votes for him everywhere, including my office and everyone kept telling me he will back out,” he says. “So when he did back out, my colleagues humiliated me for wasting my time. One friend even got me a t-shirt with the slogan ‘Idhuvum Kadandhu Pogum (this too shall pass)’.” He shifted jobs and his new company isn’t aware of his association with Rajinikanth’s brief stint in politics.

For some Rajinikanth fans, the questions remain if he was forced into politics for multiple reasons. “If he did it for commerce,” says a fan who wrote a book which has ‘Rajini’ in the title and he didn’t want to be identified. “Rajini was this duck who laid a golden egg with a film every two years and fans would crave for it. Ever since he announced his political entry he has been making back-to-back films and none of them had any hint of his politics.”

Tamil Nadu is after all a pioneer in fusing silver screen and politics. “But with Rajinikanth several things were off the mark so disappointment with him is something that happened slowly,” the writer says. He adds that he was wondering how Rajinikanth would plan an exit strategy after his press conference in March 2020 where he announced he would lead the party but someone else would be chief minister. “The hardcore fans told me I should be thinking loyally not logically. For them Rajinikanth is God and God will never do anything wrong to us. While some still hold on to that belief, this shattered a few others.”

Several others, including those who held key positions in RMM have joined other parties such as the DMK and BJP with Rajinikanth’s blessing. Political greenhorns like Gayathri Srinivas believe that RMM gave them a political launchpad. She was the RMM’s district secretary of the women’s wing in south Chennai who joined the BJP earlier this year. “Along with family and friends, I joined RMM to work towards social causes and bring about an alternative politically,” says Srinivas.

Despite the disappointment, sections of his fan base remain intact such as 27-year-old Nagaraj Jayakumar who was RMM youth wing head of Chennai’s Alandur. “We wouldn’t have learnt the basics in politics in established parties but here we completed work in 70% of the booths,” says Jayakumar. He had started a YouTube channel, Samaniyar exclusive for Rajinikanth to bust fake news about him. But he says it’s been hard to move on. “I worked for the party during weekends. We have spent a lot of time on party work, so it’s frustrating and several people are still stuck not knowing what to do next. I’ve continued with my day job.”