Kaalia would have had a tough time in Kerala, but the brightest stars of God’s Own Country took it in their stride.
Amitabh Bachchan’s Kaalia had famously said “hum jahan khade ho jaate hain, line wahin se shuru hoti hai (the line begins from where I stand)”, but Mohanlal and Mammootty chose to wait it out on Tuesday.
Kerala’s biggest filmstars, who are revered across the southern film fraternity, were no different from the common man when thousands queued up outside polling booths from early morning to vote in the Lok Sabha polls.
Mohanlal even got a taste of people’s power when he joined a rather long queue at a booth in Mudavanmugal Upper Primary School in Thiruvananthapuram, with things getting further delayed because of a malfunctioning EVM.
Perhaps realising that the superstar would have to spend quite some time to reach the booth, a policeman had offered Mohanlal free passage by breaking the queue.
But those already in the line objected to such bias.
Not willing to invite the wrath of the people, Mohanlal declined the policeman’s offer and stayed on in the queue for about one hour, 15 minutes before his turn came to vote.
In Ernakulam, Mammootty and his wife Sulfath were seen in the queue interacting with the two main candidates, P. Rajeev of the CPM and Hibi Eden of the Congress.
While Mohanlal was among those the BJP desperately tried to field from Thiruvananthapuram, Mammootty has been closely linked to the CPM.
Another hugely popular actor who waited in the queue to vote was Dileep. An alleged conspirator in the kidnap and sexual assault of a popular actress, Dileep is out on bail and set to face trial.
He voted at a booth in Aluva, Ernakulam, along with his elderly mother. He also interacted with people in the queue.
The younger bunch of stars — Fahadh Faasil, Tovino Thomas, Nivin Pauly, Parvathy and a host of newcomers — also attracted a lot of attention by waiting in queues without any fuss.
Mohanlal in the queue outside the booth in Mudavanmugal Upper Primary School in Thiruvananthapuram A Telegraph picture
But action hero and Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi, who is contesting from Thrissur on a BJP ticket, could not vote in Thiruvananthapuram.
His party had planned to get a chopper to fly him to the state capital to vote. But as things turned out, getting a helicopter was more difficult than thought.
Since driving 275km to the state capital was out of question, Gopi’s assistants apparently tried to book him on a flight from nearby Kochi, but realised the two airports were not linked by air.
Eventually, Gopi, known for his overacting and hyperbolic dialogues — which came in handy while campaigning — had to skip voting.
The richest Malayali, M.A. Yusuff Ali, however, flew in his private chopper to a makeshift helipad to cast his vote in the same constituency.
The day was not without controversies, as it turned out to be for Thomas.
One of the younger talents who has established himself with stellar roles in films like Theevandi (Train), Thomas took on former senior lawyer Sebastian Paul.
A former CPM-backed Independent MP from Ernakulam, Paul irked Thomas with his Facebook comment literally accusing actors of not voting.
“Read the news about some actors voting for the first time. Perhaps they have attained political maturity now. Mohanlal and Tovino Thomas are among them. Fahadh Faasil always votes. Mammootty votes if he is here (in the country). Those who shun polling booths are being lauded as patriots. They are decorated with civilian honours and military ranks,” read the first few lines of Paul’s message in Malayalam.
A respected social commentator, Paul’s main target was Mohanlal, who was recently honoured with a Padma Bhushan.
The actor was accorded with the military rank of a Lieutenant Colonel of the Territorial Army over 10 years ago.
Thomas called out Paul’s “stupidity”.
“Let me say with all respect; do not create misunderstanding with such stupidity. This is not my first vote,” lashed out the young actor.
Realising his folly, Paul immediately apologised and removed Thomas’s name from his post.
