The Hindu profiles on Kasthuri Shankar

Illustration: Sreejith R. Kumar

Actor Kasthuri Shankar, who came out on a conditional bail from Puzhal prison on November 21, is one such celebrity-talking head currently in the news over controversial remarks. She was picked up by the police in Hyderabad for making a loaded, controversial comment about the ‘Telugu’ origins of the Tamil Nadu ruling party DMK’s first family.

With this arrest, Ms. Kasthuri joins a growing list of anti-DMK voices to have been arrested for making unpalatable comments about the ruling dispensation.

She made these remarks at a protest organised by the Indu Makkal Katchi, a right-wing Hindu nationalist party, led by Arjun Sampath. The protest was called demanding that a law akin to the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1952, (PCR Act) to protect Brahmins from slander and defamatory comments on their caste identity from certain political sections be enacted.

Widespread criticism

While comparing slander of Brahmin sensitivities and identity to the expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits from Kashmir in the early 1990s, Ms. Kasthuri said Brahmins could not be called ‘outsiders’ by ‘Telugu speaking people’, who came to Tamil Nadu along with Telugu kings to take care of the needs of their harems.

She encountered widespread criticism for her comments, prompting her to clarify that she didn’t cast aspersions on Telugu speakers as a whole. After coming out of the prison, Ms. Kasthuri thanked those critics for transforming ‘a small voice like hers into a raging cyclone’.

Having returned to India in 2017 from the U.S., where she was living with her husband, Ms. Kasthuri, known for her spunky choice of films such as Amaidi Padai, Indian and Thamizh Padam, has been one of those celebrities who became ubiquitous on television, YouTube and social media, often opining on diverse topics — be it the language divide in India, the NEET controversy, federalism, MeToo or Tamil nationalism.

An avid quizzer and a former Miss Chennai, Ms. Kasthuri, who has acted in more than 50 films in multiple languages, emerged as an celebrity commentator as an eco-system of politically aligned social media personalities mushroomed.

Social media presence

Having been a busy actor until the early 2000s, Ms. Kasthuri took a break before turning heads with an item song in a spoof film, Thamizh Padam, featuring Mirchi Shiva in 2009.

She also hosted a quiz show on a Tamil private channel and continued to feature in other reality shows, including Bigg Boss.

She was seen taking on the political class, debating vexatious issues that yield no agreements and taking to task die-hard fans of Tamil film actors, riling their supporters and inviting senseless trolls. Having masqueraded as a fairly neutral voice on television and social media, Ms. Kasthuri is today identified mainly as someone who reflects the views of upper class, Tamil Brahmins in politics.

With people consuming news and information mainly on social media, the phenomenon of celebrity talking heads and online opinion makers, especially critics, finding themselves in the cross hairs of the State government has only served to expose the double standards of the political establishment in Tamil Nadu, which wants to be seen as leading the ideological fight against the ‘fascist’ BJP government even while using the State’s resources to jail critics.

However, Ms. Kasthuri’s transformation from a former quizzer, actor and a well-informed neutral voice on several issues to a right-wing commentator talking about upper caste issues is difficult to miss, particularly after her decision to participate in the Indu Makkal Katchi protest.

She seeks to equate ridicule and criticism of privilege in society with hatred and hegemony.

Kasthuri’s comment about the ‘Telugu origins’ of the DMK’s first family has kicked up a storm in the State.