Kabali Rajini's Political Statement?

Rajinikanth’s latest block buster kabali has set the box office ringing but there’s speculation the film carries a deep political message about dalits and could mark the superstar’s political statement.

The Kabali wave is over. Reports say that while it has done well for its producers and distributors in India, overseas earnings fell well short of the Rs. 550 crore that SS Rajamouli’s blockbuster Bahubali grossed last year. Reports have put the Kabali figure at a little over Rs.105 crore.

But Kabali may resonate for other reasons, carrying a message well beyond the realm of entertainment. It is social, economic and political – all rolled into one - and relevant in the present times.

Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa appears to have read that message through the huge entertainment value of this thriller built around the persona of a popular actor portraying an ageing gangster. He is located in a far-off land, but among the ethnic Indian, essentially Tamil milieu, that is important to her.

Although she won the last assembly polls virtually hands down, with her known ambitions of wanting to play a role at the national level, it would seem that she wants to consolidate her political support base. Dalits are a significant section of Tamil Nadu’s population.

Like most discerning watchers of Kabali, Jayalalithaa cannot miss the fact that the film is peppered with references to and scenes depicting the plight and aspirations of the Tamils in Malaysia. Beneath its glamour and action, music and visual effects, however, there is an unmistakable political message. While Rajni’s core support base is not from among the Dalits, in Kabalihe is shown as speaking for them.

Kabali shows that Rajinikanth is evolving. He is ready to break new ground while trying to hold on to and expand his following among film viewers. That, perhaps, explains his choice of the film’s director Pa. Ranjith, who had earlier made Madras (2014).