Ver Pattru: Caught between one’s roots and student politics

In Tamil Nadu, beneath impressive development indicators and a long history of social reform, cinema continues to exert a powerful influence on public life. For many actors, politics remains an alluring second act, a phenomenon dating back to M.G. Ramachandran, who remained electorally unseated for 13 years until his death. Not all have succeeded. Yet actors like Vijay loom large, threatening the entrenched political status quo in the State.

Their entry has inevitably revived debates about the absence of political activity in educational institutions. The Dravidian movement, which once benefited immensely from a groundswell of student support, appears—at least in retrospect—to have turned a blind eye to this decline. Today, barring a few exceptions, most colleges and universities have shut their doors to politics. The proliferation of engineering colleges, where students are driven primarily by the goal of securing placements through campus interviews, has left little time for extracurricular engagement, let alone political involvement.