Kochi, May 25 ( IANS) Over the weekend, Malayalam cinema’s two biggest superstars appeared to send out subtle political signals. While Mammootty attended a public felicitation accorded to Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan in Kochi, Mohanlal, almost at the same time, reached Paravoor, Satheesan’s hometown near Kochi, to attend another function held in honour of the new Chief Minister.

In Kerala, where politics is closely followed, both appearances quickly became a talking point.

All along, both Mammootty and Mohanlal stayed away from openly supporting any political party. Both carefully maintained a neutral public image.

Even then, people in Kerala always had their own ideas about where the two stars stood politically.

Mammootty’s long association with the CPI(M)-backed television channel was often seen as a sign of his closeness to the Left.

Since the channel started in the late 1990s, Mammootty has remained its chairman and one of its biggest faces.

Mohanlal too shared a warm equation with the previous Left government.

Before the Assembly elections, he spent two days in Thiruvananthapuram interviewing then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The programme was widely seen as helping the government’s image before the polls.

But Kerala politics has changed sharply since then.

The Left Democratic Front, which won 99 seats, was reduced to just 35 seats in the 140-member Assembly.

The huge victory helped Satheesan emerge as the state’s new political centre of attention.

Incidentally, both Mammootty and Mohanlal are based in Kochi, though they also have homes in Chennai.

For years, whenever Rajya Sabha vacancies came up, Mammootty’s name would regularly surface in political discussions as a possible CPI(M) nominee. But that never happened.

Now, with the Left having only 35 MLAs, even that possibility appears remote, as at least 36 votes are needed to send a member to the Rajya Sabha.

Nobody can say for sure whether the recent appearances by the two superstars were just friendly gestures or something more political.

But in Kerala, even small public appearances carry meaning.

That is why the sight of Mammootty and Mohanlal alongside the state’s new power centre has sparked fresh discussion in both political and cinema circles.

–IANS

sg/dpb