Election fever hits Kollywood, too!

With Election Day round the corner, political parties and their leaders have been busy planning their campaign blitzkriegs to ensure that they find favour among voters. With the state in election mode, can Kollywood be far behind? Around half-a-dozen politics-themed films are set to hit the screens in the coming months, starting with Ko 2, which is releasing exactly on the election weekend. Chennai Times presents a roundup of these political films that are hoping to ride on the election season buzz���

Ko 2
KV Anand���s Ko was a successful political thriller and Ko 2, while not a sequel, is an extension of the franchise. This film is a remake of the Telugu film Prathinidhi, and stars Bobby Simhaa, Nikki Galrani and Prakash Raj in the lead roles. It is directed by debutant Sarath, who has worked as an AD for Unnaipol Oruvan and Billa II. The plot revolves around a man who kidnaps the chief minister of the state and the mystery over why he did so. The film���s team has been creating a buzz by using the sharp political dialogues as promos.

Joker
Raju Murugan, who gave the romance drama Cuckoo, has directed this upcoming political satire that has Guru Somasundaram (of Aaranya Kaandam and Jigarthanda fame) in the lead. The film is said to revolve around a middle-aged man who lives below the poverty line and feels that people should have the power to not just elect their representatives but also to send them back if they are corrupt. "People think politics is only about forming a political party and participating in the elections. What we have tried to convey is that there is politics in everything; even in what we speak about other people," the director had told CT.

Thirunaal
Starring Jiiva and Nayanthara and directed by PS Ramnath, Thirunaal has been in the making for some time. We hear that the film explores the nexus between politics and rowdyism. In fact the trailer begins with the lines, "Arisiyal-la valara rowdy venum; rowdyism-la valara arasiyal moola venum" (To make it big in politics, you need a rowdy; to succeed as a rowdy, you need a political brain). Jiiva plays a gun-for-hire in the Kumbakonam-Tanjore area who falls out of favour of a bigwig poltician in the region.

Uriyadi
Presented by Nalan Kumarasamy, this film, featuring newcomers in its cast and crew, is directed by Vijay Kumar, who was a contestant on the first season of Naalaya Iyakkunar. The story takes places in two parallel tracks ��� one involving four college students and the other, about a guy who wants to make it big in politics. The trailer of the film gives enough indication that the film will tackle the exploitation of youth by politicians.

Inaya Thalaimurai
This small-budget film, which is directed by Su Si Easwar, has a premise that involves the hero coming up with a simple and effective solution to make every citizen who has voting rights to cast his vote and even wins the appreciation of the election commission. The film conveys why it is important for eveyone to vote in the elections by stressing that worthy candidates will be able to win only by every citizen doing his democratic duty. The audio of the film was recently released by IAS officer Sagayam, who revealed that the producer, Ilanthirumaran, had contested in the 2006 elections on the plank of anti-corruption.

Kodi
Dhanush plays dual roles (as brothers) in this political thriller directed by Durai Senthilkumar (of Kaaki Sattai fame) that is planned as a Ramzan release. The elder brother is a powerful politician (like that of Kokki Kumar from Pudhupettai) while the younger one plays a local boy-next-door. Trisha plays the former's pair, and we hear that her character Rudhra is that of a wily, strong-headed woman like Padayappa's Neelambari, who hopes to make it big in politics. Posters of the actress's character leading a protest by students that were used for the film's shoot in Pollachi had found their way to the social media some time back.

Pugazh
Directed by Udhayam NH4's Manimaran, Pugazh film was reportedly based on a real-life incident and released in March, with Jai in the lead role. The plot is about an ordinary young man who decides to take on a corrupt politician in his area after the latter decides to usurp a public playground for his own use. While Pugazh did not click at the box office, it gave a glimpse of how politicians operate in a small town and the difficulties that ordianry folk have to face when they chose to oppose them.