Since 2017, the issue of Rajinikanth foraying into politics has been debated not only in Tamil media but in mainstream media across the country. Political observers have been closely monitoring his every single move after he announced that he would float a new party, which, according to many, could be the B team of the BJP, a party which is trying hard to gain a foothold in the land ruled by the Dravidian parties.
Rajini's respect for Narendra Modi and support for the demonetisation were seen as the strong indication of his inclination towards the saffron party. To clear the widely-believed assumption, he had strong references in Pa Ranith's Kaala to the kind of politics he believes in and had sent a message that he was against the BJP. Here is How Much Viswasam collected in 4 Days
Once again, Rajinikanth's Petta, produced by Kalanithi Maran's Sun Pictures which belongs to the DMK family, has shown that the superstar's heart does not lie with the BJP. The Tamil movie has taken potshots at the Hindutva politics and indicates that the superstar stands for secularism. Karthik Subbaraj has written the characters of both the villains, Vijay Sethupathi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, keeping the right-wing hate-mongers in mind.
The attack on Valentine's Day celebration by Jithu (Vijay Sethupathi) in the film is one such example on the right-wing politics. Further, Petta has references to beef lynching episode, cow-politics, Modi, etc. Overall, the movie in itself tries to project Rajini as an individual who does not have any leaning towards the saffron politics or any likings towards the BJP politics.
A few have highlighted it on Twitter have highlighted his stand. "Sanghis constantly gets thrashed by Thalaivar through his movies.. When no mainstream actors movie makers dare to speak against Bjp with proof and solid stuff. Thalaivar beats them in #Kaala #Kabali now #Petta.. So it's obvious Sanghis coming under Thala fans mask to shame us [sic]," a fan of Rajini tweets.
Another fan adds, "As a pure bjp-hater, I loved how they portrayed the dirty politics of bjp in the movie. So many wonderful references. Anti-hindu, anti-valentine's day, Aey mitron, beef lynching, etc. Thank God for Tamil cinema. #Petta [sic]."
Will Rajini enter politics?
Above all, there are still doubts over whether Rajinikanth would enter politics. He has not clearly stated about his plans and the superstar has continued to act in one film after the other. The latest project of the actor will be reportedly directed by AR Murugadoss.
