“Indian film actors have nothing to contribute for the betterment of Indians”- Ramasamy slams “Kamalhassan fiasco”

It is beyond imagination that hundreds or thousands of Indians would gather over hours to greet Kamal Haasan, the Tamil movie superstar who arrived recently to launch his new movie in Malaysia.

There is no doubt about the superb acting talents of Kamal or others such as Rajni Kanth. This is not the first time for Kamal to set foot in Malaysia. Rajni has been here in Malaysia, the reception was no different to Kamal.

I can understand that these highly paid actors come to Malaysia to release their new movies from a commercial reasons. They think that they have a huge uncritical following in Malaysia among the predominantly Tamil community.

Kamal and Rajni are good actors but nothing beyond this.

They have made tons of money by acting in movies over the years. Given their unmatched popularity, they decided to translate this in the realm of politics. They thought politics would be just peanuts.

If the former chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, MG Ramachandran and J. Jayalalitha could make it to the pinnacle of politics, there was no read why they could not repeat the feat.

Unlike Kamal and Rajni, both Ramachandran and Jayalalitha rode on the cultural wave of the Dravidian ideology.

Unlike them, these actors sought to change the ideological base of Tamil Nadu politics grounded in a strong and unassailable anti-Brahmin ideology.

The political ideology of the depressed and exploited castes as opposed to the hegemony of Brahminism. Despite the nuances of their political ideology, the two actors were seen as introducing something alien to the dominant thrust of Tamil Nadu politics.

The political opportunism of Kamal and Rajni are too well known to the millions of Tamils across the state of Tamil Nadu. Ramachandran and Jayalalitha succeeed not because they were actors but because they were able to represent themselves as the purveyors of the Dravidian ideology, something popularised by none others than the icon Periyar Ramasamy and C. Annadurai. Having failed miserably in the political arena, these two actors or superstars, went back to making movies or to earn more money. It is understandable that Indians in Malaysia enjoy the acting of Kamal and Rajni.

There is no question about their acting skills that have created and sustained a strong support base. Watching their movies are fine, but certainly not to the extent of hundreds and thousands waiting to see them at the airport or at the hotels. I don’t think these opportunist actors realise the difficult and unenviable position of Malaysian Indians.

The Indian share of the national economy has not even reached 1.5 percent of the national equity. This after more than 60 years of independence. Majority of the Indians are members of the working class mostly in urban areas. Some segments find it difficult to make ends meet much so after the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

I don’t think Kamal or Rajni care about the suffering of the Indian community. Neither do they care how Indians have been discriminated and shunned by the successive racist governments.

The huge gatherings and waiting long hours to get a glimpse of these actors are not going to change the fate of the Indian community.
Neither are the meetings between Kamal with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and MIC’s deputy president M. Saravanan are going to change the fate of Indians in the country. The MIC is neither dead nor alive.

However, its leaders will latch on to anything to give even a superficial meaning to the party’s existence. Every time these actors come and go, the Indian community gets robbed of their hard earned money. Money spent on watching the movies of these actors is financial drain on the community.

Money spent on watching their movies could be spent on the education and welfare of the community. It is shameless for these super rich actors to launch their movies in Malaysia at the expense and dignity of the Indian community.