When Innocent famously played the politician from Delhi in the classic satire ‘Sandesham,’ little could he have imagined that life would imitate art one day and that he would live in Delhi as a politician, an MP to boot. No film star had ever won a Parliament or Assembly election in Kerala.
Unlike most other States, cinema has never been the ticket for a comfortable berth in electoral politics in Kerala. When M.G. Ramachandran (MGR) and N.T. Rama Rao (NTR), both matinee idols, became Chief Ministers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh respectively, the best their peer in Malayalam cinema, Prem Nazir could do was to join the Congress party in the autumn of his career.
Nazir, the most successful hero ever in Malayalam cinema, did not even contest the election. But Murali, a national award-winning actor, did at the Lok Sabha elections in 1999 in Alappuzha but lost. Innocent’s win at Chalakudythus assumes significance.
And what a fine victory it proved as he defeated a seasoned MP P.C. Chacko in a constituency that the UDF had won by over 70,000 votes in the last election. “Deep inside my mind, I knew that I would win, especially with the support of the LDF,” Innocent said. “As an actor, I am delighted that Innocent has busted the myth that a film star would never win an election in Kerala,” said Balachandra Menon. “
