Constructing Political Image through Film: A Case Study of “Nenjukku Needhi “

Abstract

In the history of Tamil cinema, no other political party has utilised the medium as much as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Dravidian leaders C.N. Annadurai, M.Karunanidhi, M.G. Ramachandran, and J. Jayalalitha, who served as Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu, were in the film industry in their initial time. Among them, M. Karunanidhi, as a writer, propagated the ideology of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam through films and mobilised people. M.Karunanidhi, who served as the Chief Minister for five terms in Tamil Nadu, made a laudable contribution to Tamil cinema. This article tries to analyse how his grandson, Udhayanidhi Stalin, who is the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, used the film medium to create his own space in politics. The paper traced how “Nenjukku Needhi” tried to extend the political clout of Udhayanidhi Stalin. The core of the article traces the changes made in the original script, “Article 15," which was remade as “Nenjukku Needhi,” concerning elevating the political image of the protagonist, Udhayanidhi Stalin. This paper on the whole deals with how Udhayanidhi, actor and politician, has utilised cinema (especially “Nenjukku Needhi”) as a tool to reach a wider audience and position himself as a politician with Dravidian ideology.