Click to play videoChennai: The southern political landscape has seen the most number of successful film star-director-producer-turned politicians. Two men who donned the political roles with ease were N T Ramarao (NTR) in Andhra Pradesh and M G Ramachandran (MGR) in Tamil Nadu.
The political journey they embarked on was very different and the legacy they left behind, beyond just the political parties they set up.
It took NTR just nine months to turn himself from an on screen mythological hero to the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. He launched the Telugu Desam Party in March 1982 and by January 1983 he was chief minister. Telugu pride and the quest for an alternative to the Congress became NTR's political platform.
"Audiences saw him as a demi-god as he essayed roles of 'Gods' in his mythological films. Also at that time there was a political space for a big leader. So both these factors worked together to ensure his sweep to power," said political analyst, T Ramachandraiah.
However, a decade before NTR scripted success in Andhra politics in neighboring Tamil Nadu a star had emerged as the undisputed leader. MGR unlike his Telugu colleague started off with the Congress and then entered the Dravidian movement way back in the 1950s. But a rivalry with Karunanidhi meant he would be expelled from the party in 1972.
"In 1972 Karunanidhi expelled MGR and that resulted in a massive feeling that a hero who fights for the poor has been betrayed by a politician and that is a feeling that lasted till the very end," said former minister in MGR's cabinet, Panrotti Ramachandran.
And the on screen hero who fought for the poor took his screen image to real life politics. An image that helped him remain chief minister till he died in 1987.
Their political paths were different but MGR and NTR share one common criticism, they were both larger than the party they started and were often considered autocratic. It's a criticism that they share with most actors who turn to politics including MGR's co-star and political successor Jayalalitha.
"You see when a star enters politics he derives his power from the people and once he has derived his power then the party organisation comes in to execute the power," said Ramachandran.
Despite all their critics, together NTR and MGR leave behind a legacy that is beyond the parties they started. It's a legacy that makes politics virtually a retirement plan for most south Indian super heroes.
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