Prakash Raj is a marked man these days. Trolls react viciously to his social media posts. Protestors appear out of nowhere and harass him randomly. The Kannada actor-turned-political activist, who is in the news every other day for his scathing critique of the ruling political ethos, says he is reliving the protest theatre days of his youth. "My friends and I would tour Karnataka in a ramshackle minibus and enact political plays. Those earned us plenty of abuse and threats," he says, apparently tickled by the memory.
The next moment his voice is steel. He says, "There is no use threatening me. It will only make me stronger and my voice louder." Some days ago, a group of men stopped his car outside a restaurant in Gulbarga in north Karnataka and started raising slogans and making threatening gestures. They also asked him to go to Pakistan. Raj says exasperatedly, "These Sanghis are obsessed with Pakistan. Why don't these idiots ask me to go to some nice holiday resort and never return, or some beautiful and happy country. Why can't they think of some place other than Pakistan?"
At a time when political temperatures in Karnataka were soaring with Assembly elections around the corner, Raj was crisscrossing the state giving fiery speeches. More often than not, the target of his ire was the BJP and he made no bones about it. He tells me, "My message to the people is clear. The Sangh Parivar is trying to destroy our society with this poison called communalism. But I also make it clear that I am opposing the BJP not as a member of a political party but as a citizen of this country."
The most recent case that has him fuming is that of the rape and murder of the little girl in Kathua, near Jammu. "This monstrous act was conducted with the intention of terrorising a community. And when people oppose it, the party in power and its activists organise protests in favour of the accused. Is this the way you use the power that has been bestowed upon you by the people?" he asks.
As an actor, Raj has been known more for his negative roles in commercial films - he played Ghani Bhai in Salman Khan's Wanted and Jaikant Shikre in Ajay Devgn's Singham - and is a three-time National Award winner. But his current off-screen persona is that of an evangelist.
This intense and passionate side to Raj was not known to many. At least not until a year ago. He himself admits that he was always restless, but he was happy discussing his political and social views with friends or tweeting with the hashtag #justasking, without targeting any political party in particular.
Journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh's murder last year changed that. Raj and Lankesh had been very old friends. Says Raj, "There is a time when something snaps. Gauri's assassination was like it happened to a member of my family and at my doorstep. Just being restless and not speaking out was no longer an option."
He continues, "When I saw people celebrating her death and when I questioned it, rather than being apologetic, they started trolling me. That's when I realised there was something seriously wrong with these people and they had to be taken head on. I told myself I can't get back my Gauri but I can try and prevent more Gauris from happening."
Wherever he goes, he tells people that Gauri was killed with the agenda of instilling fear and impose a certain narrative. "This Hindutva narrative is against the basic ethos of this country and its culture. We are a tolerant people and they want us to be full of hatred. We cannot allow that to happen. For me communalism is a greater danger than corruption," says Raj, who was born to a Hindu father and a devout Catholic Christian mother.
His speeches in various towns and cities rattled the BJP so much that the party organised anti-Raj protests across the state.
Despite the trolling and protests, Raj says there is no discounting the positive side of things. "People get very abusive on Twitter. Sometimes it can get to you and make you reactive. But remember, for every abusive troll you get a hundred supporters. Same is the case with these protests. Thousands have thanked me for speaking out and many are joining me in this journey. If I am able to inspire people to question everything that is wrong and stand up for everything that is right, what more can I possibly ask for?"
He might say that, but protests against him worry his family. "My mother prays twice a day and even my wife and three daughters are worried about me. But I assure them that what I am doing is for the country. I also tell them I will not do anything that they will be ashamed of."
His #justasking talks - that's how he has branded them - in various cities and towns across Karnataka, attract hundreds of people of all age groups. Raj claims people have had enough of communal politics. "There are several instances in the history of mankind when people have been taken for a ride. Development was the promise in 2014 and what we have got is communal politics. People cannot be taken for a ride forever. If what I am seeing on the ground translates into votes, the BJP will be taught a lesson in Karnataka that it will never forget."
And will he be joining politics or coming out in support of any one political party? Recently, he was seen in the company of H.D. Kumaraswamy of Janata Dal (Secular), what of that? Raj is, however, steadfast in his denial. "Having tracked politics closely for the last 30 years, I am not in a position to trust anyone. People can doubt me and my intentions and they have every reason to do that. And I am ready to give the same answer every time this question is raised. No, I am not interested in joining any political party."
Doesn't he fear that his activism might affect his career in films? He says, "Not really. Creative people in the South have always stood up for issues affecting the masses and, also, whenever they have felt stifled by the political environment. We have a long history."
He refers to how recently the Tamil film industry stood with the people of Tamil Nadu to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Chennai. Says Raj, "They spoke in one voice. And Modi got the message. I am very proud of the Tamil film industry."
And what would he say about Bollywood? He sounds sympathetic. "Some like Shah Rukh Khan have raised their voices on certain issues, but the Hindi film industry has a lot more at stake and is more guarded. I don't want to blame them too much."
But he also admits that his Bollywood offers have dried up after he started taking a stand against the BJP.
Raj, whose real name is Prakash Rai, is still known by his real name in Karnataka. In fact, it was Tamil director K. Balachander who changed his name from Rai to Raj. That was in the early Nineties. The Cauvery water dispute was raging between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka when the film, Duet, was released and Balachander didn't want anybody to target the film on the pretext that he had a Kannada actor in it.
Some BJP politicians have even taunted him on this count, for giving up his surname just to star in films. Tell him this and Raj starts to rattle off the names of Dilip Kumar, Rajinikanth, Rajkumar, Mammootty. He says, "People know these people by their screen names and not their real ones. They [the BJP] are trying to create controversy out of nothing."
As a college-goer with an interest in theatre, Raj was drawn to the writings of journalist and author P. Lankesh, father of Gauri Lankesh. "I would go to his office and discuss anything under the sun and these were highly stimulating discussions. There were so many writers, theatre activists and others who were part of these gatherings. He was an inspiration for my generation. He used to tell youngsters like me - 'Just follow your dreams. Build an identity of our own.'"
That didn't go unheeded. One day, Raj decided to stop going to college and concentrate on theatre instead. He kept it a secret from his family for a long time. "There were no jobs and, moreover, I didn't want to be an accountant after studying Commerce. Theatre was giving me an identity, this was a medium that I understood. I didn't need anything else."
He says he looks for inspiration even to-day, and rather than the older generation it is people like Jignesh Mevani, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid who inspire him. "They are doing more for this country than I can ever imagine. I am in the comfort zone because of my profession. I am economically secure and independent. I have a name. But look at these youngsters. They are fighting for this country and its future. Enlightenment may have come late to me, but here I am. And I will fight as long as I can."
