Caste, Cinema, Action — Not Just Tamil Nadu And Andhra Pradesh, Even Karnataka's Political Arena Has Been 'Star'-Studded

Roads in Bengaluru city were unusually busy on a lazy Sunday afternoon last week. Reason? The Karnataka Pradesha Arya Ediga Sangha (KPAE) was holding its annual convention at the Palace Grounds.

Scores of people from all over the state were attending this Ediga convention held in the middle of the city, while also making a quick pitstop at the Rajkumar Samadhi — the burial grounds of veteran Kannada actor Dr Rajkumar and his son Puneeth Rajkumar.

Notably, the Rajkumar family belong to the Ediga community.

In Karnataka, caste is intertwined with cinema. One may not see such loyalties very clearly, but, upon close observation, one can be seen that actors have an influence over certain regions and caste groups.

Context

Last Sunday (10 December), Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar extended an invitation to Kannada film icon Shiva Rajkumar to run for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2024.

This is significant for two reasons:

One: The Ediga (or Idiga) community in Karnataka is politically important for all the parties in the state, as the community falls mostly under the Other Backward Caste (OBC) category.

Two: The Rajkumar family, which includes the late Dr Rajkumar and his children Shiva Rajkumar, the late Puneeth Rajkumar, and Raghavendra Rajkumar, has delivered big box-office hits in the past, and are widely respected in the state. They are Edigas themselves.

No other film family or film star arguably commands as much influence over the people of a state as the Rajkumar family. As a result, political parties have tried several times to woo the Rajkumars to join them.

Addressing the Ediga community assembly in Bengaluru on Sunday, Shivakumar expressed that he has encouraged Shiva Rajkumar to vie for a seat in the Lok Sabha from "any constituency."

"I have urged Shiva Rajkumar to participate in the Lok Sabha elections from any constituency in Karnataka, recognising it as a significant opportunity for anyone to venture into national politics," he said.

Shiva Rajkumar's brother-in-law, Madhu Bangarappa, is currently serving his term as the state's Education Minister. While there are media reports which suggest that Shiva Rajkumar is contemplating an entry into politics, he has maintained a safe distance from it thus far.

His wife, Geeta, had joined the Congress party ahead of the assembly elections in the state. Ashwini Puneeth Rajkumar is known to be sympathetic to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Let's explore how exactly cinema and caste interact with each other in the context of Karnataka politics.

When A Kannada Actor Turned Activist

The first major movement in which a Kannada actor was involved was the Gokak Chaluvali (Gokak agitation) — a language rights protest fought in the 1980s to establish first-language status for Kannada in Karnataka.

The movement was named after Vinayaka Krishna Gokak, a writer and scholar who spearheaded the campaign. His intention was to provide primacy to Kannada in state schools.

Since the linguistic reorganisation of states in 1956, Karnataka had adopted the three-language formula for education.

Bear in mind that the modern state of Karnataka was carved out of various provinces and presidencies; some parts of the Hyderabad, Madras, and Bombay presidencies of the time were incorporated into the Mysore Kingdom to form Karnataka.

As a result, Telugu-, Tamil-, and Marathi-speaking people became a part of the state. Back then, Sanskrit was the first language in high schools, thereby rendering a third-language status to Kannada.

While former chief minister Devaraj Urs sought to correct the issue of language primacy, R Gundu Rao restored the earlier setup and moved Sanskrit back to the top of the language tree.

Due to intense protests following the move, Rao's government set up a committee headed by V K Gokak. In the panel's report published in January 1981, the committee recommended that the Kannada language be given primacy in education.

In the midst of these protests, a young film star by the name of Rajkumar assumed a leading role. After a strong pushback and the resulting violence and even deaths, the then-government was not in a position to pursue any course other than accepting the committee's recommendation.

This happened to be the first major instance of a film actor standing for a cause and emerging successful.

Caste-Cinema Interplay

Back in the day, Kannada cinema did not have a lot of takers. It was after the Gokak agitation that Kannada nationalism was politically reborn, and then seeped permanently into the minds of Karnataka's upcoming generations.

As the Kannada film industry was still in its infancy, films were shot in Madras. This is one of the reasons why Dr Rajkumar and his family spent a significant amount of time in Tamil Nadu.

Rajkumar's commitment to Kannada was first displayed when he refused to act in any language other than his own. After the Cauvery River dispute took an ugly turn, the actor moved his base from Chennai to Bengaluru in the late 1980s.

Even today, Shiva Rajkumar is able to communicate fluently in Tamil, even as he inherited an identity based on linguistic activism led by his father.

But, back then, caste as an identity was not at the forefront, says Malavika Avinash, a lawyer and actor based in Bengaluru.

"It is usually the politicians that use caste to their advantage and not the actors who do it. Actors themselves may not realise this, but their caste becomes an added advantage to their pre-existing popularity while contesting polls," she says, speaking to Swarajya.

"Best example? Ambareesh. He won the elections from a region that is predominantly supportive of caste politics. Had it been some other popular actor who was not a Vokkaliga, his or her victory would have been next to impossible," adds Malavika.

Many names have emerged from Karnataka — Upendra, Pooja Gandhi, Shilpa Ganesh, Sumalatha Ambareesh, Umashree, Jaggesh, Shashikumar, and Prakash Raj, to name a few.

But among them, only some have been able to crack the caste code and come through successfully before their people.

Umashree, a veteran actor, was elected as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 2013 from Bagalkot's Terdal, a constituency dominated by OBCs, including the Nekara community (weavers) to which she belongs.

Umashree belongs to the Devanga sub-caste, one among 29 others that form the larger community of more than six million people in Karnataka.

Another actor, Shashikumar, won the 1999 Lok Sabha elections by contesting from Chitradurga — a seat dominated by the Scheduled Tribe community, particularly the Nayakas, to which Sudeep also belongs.

The Nayakas are concentrated in districts like Raichur, Chitradurga, and Bellary. They also delivered a massive blow to the BJP this time.

Not That Simple

There is a catch — actors are not always elected to power merely on the basis of their popularity.

"By that logic, a Chiranjeevi or Upendra must have been the chief ministers of their respective states by now. But that is not the case. Popularity does not necessarily catapult a star to power," says Malavika.

"People gain trust in a person because of their continued commitment to a cause. Unless they invest that much time, energy, and resources, their success is not always guaranteed," she explains further.

Politics is quite different north of the Vindhyas.

Bollywood actors do not generally have a base. They are like kings who have no kingdom to rule over. Their subjects are far too dispersed. This is why a Raj Babbar or Govinda does not have a solid base in the form of a loyal constituency from where they can be elected.

On the other hand, actors down south carry a sense of belonging. Regional and language pride sometimes play a key role in getting them elected. This is the story of M G Ramachandran, N T Rama Rao, and Karunanidhi, for instance.

From the beginning, these iconic actors were involved in the Dravidian politics of the time, under the tutelage of C N Annadurai, a former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

Another example is Ravi Kishan, a Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur, which has a significant Bhojpuri-speaking population.

Kishan's popularity among the voters made it easier for him to win the elections, one could argue.

"An actor may not know his worth, but a politician certainly does. It is all about the product, placement and posturing," Malavika says. Quite the words of wisdom.