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Political act

M D Riti

In the theatres one week, and in the Vidhana Soudha the next.

For the second term running, the Kannada film industry has another representative in the ministry. Vasanth Kumar Bangarappa, the eldest son of former chief minister Sarekoppa Bangarappa, has just been made a junior minister in the new Congress government led by S M Krishna in Karnataka.

The elevation could not have come at a better time for Kumar, whose film career has been limping from its inception a decade ago.

"Kumar's film career was not doing well," the senior Bangarappa admitted to rediff.com some weeks ago. "But then, that's only because the Kannada film industry is in such bad shape now, and nobody has money to spend on films. In spite of this, Kumar has been quite active in cinema even after he became an MLA, and two of his films are now ready for release."

Vasant Kumar has been elected for the second term from his father's home constituency of Sorab in Shimoga.

Three years ago, when he was first elected MLA, he was a total political novice, and even confessed to me that he won purely because of his father's reputation and popularity.

But Kumar has obviously decided since then that politics is a better career option for him, and has been visiting Sorab frequently, establishing his base there. In fact, it was he who campaigned for his father in all the villages there this time, not vice versa.

Kumar's predecessor in the last ministry in Karnataka fared miserably at the hustings this time. Popular film star Anant Nag, who was urban development minister in J H Patel's Janata Dal government, got barely over 5000 votes this time.

We had caught up with him as he was on a lonely campaign trail, contesting as a Janata Dal-U candidate from the Basavanagudi assembly segment against both the BJP and the Congress, as the BJP-JD-U alliance had already virtually broken down in Karnataka.

However, sitting absolutely alone in one of the many small dining rooms of the old, very lower-middle class New Modern Hotel on the busy K R Road, Nag had looked relaxed and happy as he planned his programme for the afternoon ahead.

"This was the hotel that I camped at 25 years ago, when I came to Bangalore to act in my first Kannada film Sankalpa," he had said, his brown eyes twinkling, lips curving into that warm smile that continues to melt hearts, but won him no votes this time. "What a long distance I have travelled since then..."

"Saar, we have some friendly advice to offer you before we start our afternoon's programme," said two grizzled, khadi-clad activists, advancing diffidently, and looking worriedly at me. "Avaru nammavare (she is one of us), you can say anything you like in front of her, I have no secrets from her because she is such an old friend," said Nag, gesturing towards me.

As they got engrossed in a brief but intense strategy discussion, I recalled conversations with a thinner, more impassioned Nag a dozen years ago, on the subject of his then idol, Ramakrishna Hegde, the then chief minister of Karnataka.

Nag still has all the old fire, much of that old idealism and even the old boyish charm intact, and was quite prepared for his defeat in a tougher electoral battle than he had ever faced.

His critics point out that he had several factors working against him: the anti-JD-U wave sweeping the state, his own image of being an intelligent but not highly performance-oriented minister and the bad party infrastructure backing him during his campaign. Nag had had the time to do a secondary role in just one movie, Vishwa,, a remake of the Hindi Ghayal, after he became minister two years ago.

Yet another ageing filmstar has been elected again to Parliament, someone who enjoys the confidence of Chief Minister Krishna. As the CM walked up to the railings of the state government secretariat, to wave to his supporters gathered on the streets below, the man who walked beside him was none other than film star Ambareesh.

Bursts of tricolour powder rose through the air as Krishna's supporters from Mandya and Sathnur had ingeniously hired film industry technicians to burst the powder bombs used frequently as a backdrop when heroes, heroines and group dancers juggle along beaches or rolling downs.

"All that they need to do now is sing a song about eternal friendship," remarked a disgusted police constable down below, brushing coloured powder from his shirt.

Ambareesh and Krishna -- who was then just president of the Congress in Karnataka -- shared a dais in Mandya and campaigned together just before the polls. Both belong to the same majority community, the Vokkaligas.

Interestingly, Ambareesh himself did not rate Krishna's chances of winning Karnataka for the Congress too highly. "S M Krishna has a small chance of becoming the chief minister of Karnataka," he had told rediff.com just before the poll. "We cannot really bank on that, it is just a small chance. But everyone feels we should make use of that chance. So this time, the people of Mandya may blindly vote for him and the Congress."

Ambi, as he is known in the Kannada film industry, is equally candid in admitting that the people usually respond better to a filmstar-turned-politician than to any ordinary debut-making political aspirant.

"Voters always respond to you as a film star first, and as a politician next," confessed Ambareesh. "As for me personally, people like me as a film artiste. It has nothing to do with the party I belong to." Which is perhaps why Ambareesh has managed to win twice so far, once each from the Congress and the Dal. This time, he got elected again to the Lok Sabha from Mandya district.

And this second victory has certainly come at a good time for him, as his film career was dying slowly, a fact that he himself admits quite cynically. "Over the past two years, I have only acted in one film," he said ruefully. "However, I must confess that it's not only because I don't have time as a result of being a sitting MP. It is really because I am ageing. How can I hope to compete with young stars?"

Yet another star who won a Lok Sabha seat at a time when his film career was doing badly was the once popular dancing star Shashi Kumar. It was a road accident, and not sheer age, that had proved to be Kumar's undoing.

Never the most talented of actors, Kumar played hero in B grade movies which called for more hip and fist swinging than genuine acting, until he was badly disfigured in a road accident a couple of years back. A series of painful plastic surgery gave him a new face that was completely different from his original one, and Kumar's audiences simply stopped relating to him.

He did the odd couple of films, co-starring with other popular actors, but chose the right moment to try and switch to politics. And he won on a Congress ticket from Chitradurga district with ease, much to his own surprise.

"The people treated me with the same love and trust, when I campaigned in their midst, as when I went before them as an actor," said Kumar emotionally, after he won. Still a novice in politics, hhe is unable to speak about his plans for his constituency, or the issues confronting his party in Delhi. However, he says he will definitely continue to act.

Yet another ageing star,, Jayanthi, the only woman from the film industry to contest this time, lost the Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket. Jayanthi, who was a popular heroine two decades ago, does not even get too many mother's roles coming her way now.

She had already made one unsuccessful entry into politics, and had lost from an assembly segment in the same region some years ago. Jayanthi will now have to content herself with living on the fringes of both cinema and politics.

Small-time actor and businessman Yogesh won himself an assembly seat as an Independent this time. The Congress probably rues having denied him the ticket he beseeched them for. But Yogesh, who had planned to enter politics, made himself visible and active within the community for the past two years. This stood him in good stead now, and he won.

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