His announcement of support to the BJP campaign came with several riders. The most recent star to dip his toes into political waters is Kichcha Sudeep, one of the biggest names in the Kannada film industry today. Other actors from Karnataka have entered the political scene in the state - but definitely not with the impact of their industry colleagues in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. His three actor sons also stayed away from politics - although his eldest son, Shiva Rajkumar is married to Geetha, the daughter of a former chief minister, the late S Bangarappa.Īnother Kannada superstar, Vishnuvardhan, with a massive fan base, also steered clear of politics and political parties. Such was his popularity that he would probably have won hands down in any seat he chose to contest from. But it was a firm no when it came to associating with any political party - let alone standing as a candidate in any election. It wasn't that Dr Rajkumar avoided political issues - he made his stand clear on his desire to see the promotion and protection of Kannada and spoke up to see that Karnataka's interests were protected when it came to the sharing of Cauvery waters with neighbouring states. No party in the state could claim extra closeness to him - although each one of them would have liked to. He chose to stay far away from electoral politics. The Kannada film industry's biggest superstar was Dr Rajkumar. But it is still really about their role as film stars - not for what they do on the political stage. Not that the adulation for stars is any less in this southern state - there are the fan clubs and giant cutouts and crowds clamouring to get a glimpse of their idols. In Karnataka, though, the connection between film stars and politics seems to be a little more complicated.
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