Kamal Haasan ready to plunge into politics

Kamal Haasan, who has constantly been in the news for his iconoclastic views, created a furore on Thursday, when he shared the stage with DMK supporters and apparently took a potshot at Rajnikanth, who sat in the audience. So is Kamal Haasan joining politics? We find out.

You are back in the news again.
This is not what I want to do, or be. I am not here to make news. I have much larger plans, which have nothing to do with me.

You mean you are finally taking a plunge into active politics?
Did I say that? What makes you think that?

You were on the platform at a DMK event on Thursday?
I was, and I am glad I went. I was there not as a political personality but in support of  DMK’s newspaper, which completed 75 years. Seventy-five years in this era of instant news and overnight journalism! Wouldn’t you want me to be there with you when you complete 75 years?

Tell me, when you made that jibe from the stage about how you would rather do things for self-respect than self-defence, were you aiming at Rajnikanth?
No! Why would I want to take a jibe at my friend and colleague whom I’ve known and loved for 40 years?

Well, it seemed like that’s exactly what you were doing.
Then it seemed wrong. I was taking an aim at all those who refuse to stand up against corruption. When you don’t take a stand against corruption, you tacitly support it. And I am not talking only about the corruption in Tamil politics. I am looking at a pan-Dravidian India, freed of corruption.

How can you single-handedly free Indian politics from corruption?
Let me at least try. If my idol Mahatma Gandhi could fight to eradicate corruption at the age of 78, why can’t I try at 60?

What according to you ails Indian politics?
We are not exercising our democratic rights properly. We need to stop looking for solutions in others. If we don’t listen to those warnings within our heart we will destroy our hard-earned freedom.