Will the Jallikattu protests turn Mani Ratnam's dream a reality
- IndiaGlitz, [Friday,January 20 2017]
With lakhs and lakhs of youngsters participating in the protests for Jallikattu has given a great deal of hope about the future of politics in Tamil Nadu.
It is a long held thought shared by a vast majority of people that educated youngsters should foray into politics and cleanse it rather than staying away.
While there are many films that dealt with youngsters entering politics, the most popular and impactful films are director Vikraman's 'Puthiya Mannargal' (1993) Director Mani Ratnam's Tamil-Hindi bilingual 'Aayudha Ezhuthu'.
The latter starring Suriya, Madhavan and Siddharth in lead roles stressed the importance of learned youngsters taking up politics. The film ends with the hero Michael (Suriya) the first time MLA entering the Assembly hall surpassing the white-clad corrupt politician Selvanayagam (Bharathiraja).
With the uprising of Tamil youngsters in large numbers and the fact that they are also protesting for many other issues affecting Tamils apart from Jallikattu ban, with the way the protest is being conducted in the unprecedentedly non-violent and democratic manner without causing a semblance of hindrance to public, there is a widespread expectation that the protesters should mobilise as a political force and one day these people should rule the state.
This may be way too early to have such expectations. But one should not forget that anything starts from a small spark. A few weeks ago, no one would have expected such a statewide voluntary uprising of commoners for Jallikattu.
Will the dreams strengthened by the films like 'Aaytha Ezhuthu' become a reality in Tamil Nadu? Only time would give the answer.