As crowds gather around a stage at a political meeting for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) at Chintadripet, a huge roar goes up when a man in full white, wearing dark glasses and a yellow shawl, waves at the crowd. They are excited to see a “Karunanidhi” on stage.
“We’ve seen many of our party supporters, and even the public, get emotional and are drawn to our meetings even when they see a lookalike of our leader. Accompanied by songs about the party, it creates the perfect atmosphere and sets the stage for us,” said Madhan Mohan, a DMK worker from Chepauk.
Lookalikes of major politicians are one of the top draws in election meetings as part of campaigning by political parties.
“I started dressing up like Mr. Karunanidhi from 1995 for election meetings. For the last five years, I’ve also been going as MGR and Periyar and, of late, since there has been demand for PMK founder S. Ramadoss, I’ve been attending meetings dressed up like him as well,” said Markendeyan, who hails from Cuddalore.
Quick change
“I have costumes and a small make-up kit I carry around and it doesn’t take much time. In fact, I just need a pair of glasses and a small change in my hairstyle to look like Ramadoss,” Markendeyan said.
‘Vijayakant’ Kumar from Namakkal, who attends election meetings as a lookalike of the DMDK chief, said apart from posing for selfies, he is often asked to recite some of the real politician’s popular dialogues from his recent meetings and interviews.
The lookalikes, however, have not been spared by the political churnings either.
“Ever since Vijayakant entered into an alliance with the PWF, there has been less demand for us,” rued one who said he had appeared as the politician’s lookalike in several election meetings last year during the general elections.
MGR most popular
However, one thing has been a constant — lookalikes of MGR remain the most popular, says Mr. Kumar. Echoing his statement, Mr. Markendeyan says for the last five years, the demand for MGR lookalikes had been so much that it had prompted him to dress up like the politician.
K. Balu, who helps organise performers for election meetings, said while MGR remained the most popular, lookalikes for politicians such as M K. Stalin and Vijayakant had increased only in the last ten years, keeping in tune with the emergence of these people in the political scene in Tamil Nadu.
The end of elections will mean only occasional appearances in village temple festivals for most lookalikes. “Appearances in election meetings are the most exciting for us as we get to gauge the support and as to who may win. It is going to be dull after this month,” said S. Nagarajan, an MGR look-alike from Edappadi.
