MGR Was India’s First Film Star To Become Chief Minister!—Part 2

Be it Hollywood, Bollywood, Kollywood (Tamil Cinema), Mollywood (Malayalam Cinema), or Tollywood (Bengali Cinema as well as Telugu Cinema), film stars have always been a center of attraction to win elections due to their charm and a tremendous fan following. It is another story that only a handful of film stars around the globe have made an incredible impact on politics. For instance, Hollywood actor Ronald Reagan became the governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and later reached the zenith of MGR politics by becoming president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.

Speaking of India, many actors became members of the Rajya Sabha and even ministers, but the actors who could become chief minister have been just 3, and that too limited to South India. These three actors who ruled the hearts of people as chief minister are M.G. Ramachandran, N. T. Rama Rao, and Jayalalithaa Jayaram.

MGR: A Legendary Leader in Tamil Nadu’s Politics

MGR dominated the Tamil film industry as a superstar from the 1940s to the 1970s before transitioning into politics. MGR’s political career began with Congress before he joined the DMK. He eventually founded AIADMK and became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, serving for a decade (1977-1987) and leading the party to multiple electoral victories. His tenure saw him earn the nickname “People’s King,” and he was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna for his contributions to India.

Jayalalithaa Jayaram, who had starred alongside MGR in numerous films, went on to carry forward his legacy in Tamil politics. She became the youngest Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on the AIADMK ticket from 1991 to 1996. Later she served 4 more terms as Chief Minister (2001–2001), (2002–2006), (2011–2014), and (2015–2016).

Like Kollywood (Tamil Cinema), Tollywood, aka Telugu cinema’s superstar N.T. Rama Rao, better known as NTR, too easily transformed his popularity on the screen into forming his political party, Telugu Desam Party, and ruled as Chief Minister on three occasions during a period of seven years between 1983 and 1994.