Kamal Haasan said he has taken advice from CM Pinarayi Vijayan, who he admires
Highlights
- Kamal Haasan kept fans guessing about his political plans
- He is known to share a warm rapport with Kerala chief minister
- Mr Haasan had criticised AIADMK over crime and corruption
Actor Kamal Haasan, who has kept fans guessing about his political plans, made no announcements today either but shared what his politics will be like. "Not saffron," he said.
The 62-year-old had emerged from lunch with Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, with whom he is known share a warm rapport. But the visit to the chief minister's home in Thiruvananthapuram at a time when the actor's tweets and statements have been increasingly political, drew questions. Like, was he considering joining the Left?
"My colour is obviously seen over the 40 years I have been working in cinema, definitely it's not saffron," Kamal Haasan said, but also added, "I want to be in the middle of things, not leaning to any side."
He admitted he talked politics with the 73-year-old Communist leader and said he had taken advice from Chief Minister Vijayan, who he admires. "I will meet more politicians before I make my call," said the actor, who wore a dark coloured shirt and mundu, or traditional garment in Kerala worn around the waist.
"We are meeting for the first time since I became chief minister. Even though it was a personal visit, we also discussed politics of south India, especially in Tamil Nadu," Mr Vijayan said in a Facebook post.
For weeks now, Kamal Haasan has waged a political battle against Tamil Nadu's ruling AIADMK with tweets that are
sharply critical of Chief Minister E Palaniswami's government, which he has alleged has done little to curb crime and corruption in the state.
Last month, he had said that everyone has to face corruption in Tamil Nadu; when a minister threatened to sue him for what he called "misleading comments," the actor had asked his fans to flood the state's ministers with emails, exposing their experiences of corruption, and dared the government to arrest everyone.
He
accused the AIADMK leaders of "fooling the people," when the party's two factions merged last month, tweeting, "Gandhi cap, Saffron cap, Kashmir cap, now a clown cap on the head of Tamilians. Enough? Or do you want more?" as he alleged the AIADMK of a "drama of splitting and now uniting."
But two days ago, at a wedding reception in Tamil Nadu, Mr Haasan spoke directly to fans asking then not to see it as a function but as "an inauguration." It was seen as his broadest hint till then that he is weighing a career in politics. He urged fans to be ready to march to the Tamil Nadu Assembly to make sure "corrupt politicians are not elected again."