5 popular Kollywood stars contesting in TN elections

Cinema and politics have been intertwined in Tamil Nadu right from the 1950s. In fact, five of the state's chief ministers — CN Annadurai, M Karunanidhi, MG Ramachandran, VN Janaki and J Jayalalithaa — have worked in films. So, it is no surprise that political parties turn to celebrities from Kollywood during the elections. Many stars have campaigned for various political parties and some have even floated parties of their own. The upcoming Assembly elections is no different in this regard. As with previous elections, some parties have fielded people from a filmi background as candidates this time as well. Here is a look at five of the most popular film celebs who are contesting in this election.

Even though he launched his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam, in 2018, the acclaimed actor and filmmaker is facing his first election in this state election. He will be contesting from the Coimbatore South constituency, and filed his nomination for the same on March 15. The actor has also begun campaigning in his constituency and his photo-ops, like taking a morning walk on Race Course Road and riding in an auto, have been doing the rounds on social media. His main rival among fellow contestants is Vanathi Srinivasan of BJP, who is contesting as part of the AIADMK combine.

The actress, who began her political career with the DMK in 2010, and was part of the Congress party between 2014 ad 2020. In October 2020, she moved to the BJP, and has been one of the star campaigners of the party since then. While many expected her to be given the seat to contest for the Chepauk constituency, that did not happen. However, she was then announced as the party's candidate for the Thousand Lights constituency in Chennai. Khushbu filed her nomination today and has begun her campaign with her supporters in the constituency.

Udhayanidhi, who turned active in politics over the last few years, has often been non-committal about contesting in elections in earlier interviews, maintaining that it was up to the party to decide if he has to be fielded in elections or not. Despite criticisms of nepotism, he will now be contesting from the Chepauk constituency in Chennai, from where his late grandfather, Kalaignar Karunanidhi, contested last. After filing his nomination on March 15, he met the various leaders of DMK's alliance parties and the various communities who make up his constituency and sought their support.

The senior actress entered politics once Kamal Haasan announced his political entry. She has been a core committee member of Makkal Needhi Maiam since its beginning. After campaigning for their candidates in the parliamentary election in 2019, she will now be contesting in the state election. She will be contesting in the Mylapore constituency in Chennai, and is considered to be one of the key hopefuls of the party. She filed her nomination on March 17 and has begun her campaigning. Her chief rival is former police officer and sitting MLA R Nataraj of the AIADMK.

The lyricist-actor was among the stars who joined Kamal Haasan's MNM right during its launch in 2018. A key member of the party, he will be contesting from the Virugambakkam constituency in Chennai in the upcoming 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election. He filed his nomination today and kicked off his campaign. Will he be able to translate the popularity that he gained as a contestant on the TV reality show Bigg Boss Tamil, and convert that into votes? We will have to wait and watch!