“I was the one who first asked Vijay to join politics,” says MNM leader Kamal Haasan

Kamal Haasan is the Ulaganayagan of Indian cinema and the leader of the Makkal Needhi Maiyam party. He has been juggling between cinema and politics for the past few years. As MNM steps into its 7th year today, he met the media and answered their questions.

Kamal Haasan said, “Who would you call a full-time politician here? Why I am acting in cinema means that you have given me all the facilities and why I have to come to politics, it means that I have not returned all of your love yet. To those who ask why I am not in full-time politics, I am obliged to say that the politics I do is done with the money I earn.

The reason why I lost in Coimbatore was that 90,000 people did not come to vote. 40% of people in India don’t vote. You can ask me why I’m not a full-time politician after the citizens become full-time citizens. They said it was difficult to get me into politics, now that I have come, I can tell you that it is more difficult to get me out of politics.”

When asked about Thalapathy Vijay leaving cinema entirely to enter politics, Kamal said, “I was the one who first asked Vijay to join politics. It was his style to leave cinema and join full-time politics. I do politics in my own style.”