The everlasting influence of the Tamil film industry over the political scene in the state came to the fore yet again as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi called on superstar Rajinikant here recently.
A clear attempt by the party leader to add some star power to his political clout in Tamil Nadu, where BJP has stitched a mega alliance with six parties, only underlines the fact that the relationship between cinema and politics in the state since the 1950s remained inseparable.
Cinema, a platform used by politicians since the start of the Dravidian movement to propagate their ideology, continues to design trends in Tamil politics, which is also evident with cinema history of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran and present Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
While actor Rajinikant is believed to have made only a courtesy gesture by describing Modi a "strong leader and good administrator," BJP leaders are highlighting the meeting of the two in the run-up to the April 24 polls to its advantage.
Within an hour of their meeting, BJP state president Pon Radhakrishnan read out Rajinikant's words to Modi at an election rally, the party's top leader addressed in Chennai on Sunday.
Within 24 hours of the meeting, BJP ally MDMK released a picture of its founder Vaiko with Rajinikant claiming it a meeting on April 6, when he reportedly met the 'Superstar' to handover Ram Jethmalani's autobiography with a personal request that the southern star should support Modi for PM.
Even as the media was not present inside Rajinikant's residence during the meetings, both Modi and Vaiko made it a point to publicise their personal pictures with Rajinikant, which is a certain way of informing the electorate about the 63-year-old actor's good wishes for them.
Though Modi had met Rajinikant once in 2011 and once again in 2012, his visit to the 'Superstar' this week gains significance as electioneering is in full swing in Tamil Nadu with few days remaining for the April 24 polls.
M K Alagiri, son of DMK chief M Karunanidhi, who was expelled from DMK, was another political leader who met Rajinikant recently.
