MH Ambareesh: Pretence wasn’t his cup of tea

MH Ambareesh

was one of the leading lights of Sandalwood when he decided to plunge into politics. His political foray was not as sparkling as his 208-film career in tinsel town. Unlike in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, in

Karnataka filmdom

and politics are uneasy bedfellows.


Dr Rajkumar, the tallest of the state’s thespians, was hailed for staying away from electoral politics and while Ananth Nag,

Umasree

— both ministers at one time — Jaggesh and Mukhyamanthri Chandru won an election or two, those successes were interspersed with ignominious defeats. Jayamala, who is currently a minister, Tara and Arathi made it to the legislative council by nomination.

Ambareesh faced bitter defeat in his first shy at active politics. He was instrumental in the Janata Dal — undivided then — getting 16 seats in the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. The polls also catapulted HD Deve Gowda to the Prime Minister's seat and he had to resign from the Ramanagara assembly seat, resulting in a bypoll. Ambareesh contested the bypoll on a JD(S) ticket and lost to CM Lingappa of the Congress. If ever Ambareesh needed reminding that his on-screen image would be of little help in convincing voters, this was it.

“A remarkable thing about Ambareesh was that he was firm on a political career despite the initial setback and voters’ scepticism,” says political observer NK Mohanram. Caste dynamics helped. He belonged to the Vokkaliga community, whose stars were on the ascendancy when he entered politics in the mid-1990s. Deve Gowda had just then become CM and shortly later, PM. The carefully coined moniker Mandyada Gandu, which was also the title of one of his films, gave Ambareesh iconic status, helping him win back-to-back elections from Mandya, a Vokkaliga citadel. His first victory was in 1998 as a JD(S) candidate and he won elections in 1999 and 2004 as a Congressman. After suffering a defeat in 2009, he entered the state assembly from Mandya in 2013 and became a cabinet minister. The carefree-lifestyle that suited his image as a film star, proved a stum- bling block for his political career. People of Mandya adored his friendly nature, but hated his nonchalance. Ambareesh though was not one to change his spots. Pretence wasn't his cup of tea.

“It was his style of living and no one could change that,” said S V Rajendra Singh Babu, his closest friend and filmmaker. Ambareesh was a stranger to political chicanery and quite often came across as odd in politics. After demanding a ministerial post in the Union government in 2008, he barely attended office in New Delhi as a junior minister for information and broadcasting. He then threw up the post, quitting over the Cauvery river water dispute, a move which farmers did not appreciate.

“His commitment to the Cauvery issue was unquestionable, but he could have done better had he learnt the ropes in politics,” says G Made Gowda, former MP from Mandya.

True to his on-screen sobriquet, Ambareesh was a ‘Rebel Star’ in politics too. He clashed with the likes of SM Krishna and Deve Gowda on issues. He was unhappy when chief minister Siddaramaiah allocated the horticulture ministry to him in 2013 and continued to sulk even after getting the housing portfolio. In protest against his unceremonious removal from the cabinet in 2016, he refused to contest the assembly elections in 2018. Health too was an issue.

“He was not made to be a politician,” said CM Lingappa, who had humbled Ambareesh in his first electoral foray. “He was a good man who strayed into the badlands of politics.”

AMBAREESH TO BE BURIED NEXT TO RAJKUMAR
Actor-politician MH Ambareesh will be laid to rest with state honours on Monday in the premises of governmentowned Kanteerava Studio off Outer Ring Road in northwest Bengaluru, close to the memorial of friend and fellow thespian Dr RajKumar. CM HD Kumaraswamy, in consultation with the Ambareesh family and key Sandalwood personalities, on Sunday announced that the last rites will be conducted near Dr Rajkumar Smaraka in Kanteerava Studio with state honours. An Ambareesh memorial will be constructed on a one-and-a-half acre plot on the premises.

The government also declared threeday official mourning as a token of respect. Rajkumar and Ambareesh shared a special friendship. They also shared screen space as brothers in the 1994 film Odahuttidavaru (Siblings) directed by Dorai-Bhagavan. Recollecting his special relationship with the thespian, Ambareesh had said Rajkumar always spoke to him like a true friend. “I have lost a great friend, philosopher and guide,” he said when Rajkumar passed away. Although there was a demand from fans of actor Vishnuvardhan, a friend of Ambareesh who died in 2009, to bury their hero in the Kanteerava Studio premises, it couldn’t be fulfilled.