Kerala Assembly polls 2026: Star effect in State politics

Back in 1987, ageing Malayalam superstar Prem Nazir took his plunge into politics, after some level of persuasion from the Congress leadership. The fact that two other south Indian States were ruled by film stars, MGR in Tamil Nadu and NTR in Andhra Pradesh, at that point of time probably made the Congress try out a similar experiment in Kerala. However, despite the persuasion, Nazir did not contest, but took time out from his shooting schedule to campaign for the Congress across the State.

Perhaps indicating what Keralites back then thought about film stars and celebrities intervening in active politics, the Congress failed to win that election as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) came to power. It used to be even proudly claimed by many that the glitz and glamour of the film world will not work with the politically aware populace of Kerala. The win of filmmaker Ramu Kariat from the Nattika Assembly constituency in 1965 remained as an aberration until recently.

Even the stellar record of actor and current Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar of the Kerala Congress (B) (a constituent party of the ruling LDF), who has not lost from Pathanapuram since 2001, cannot be explained completely by his celebrityhood. He sort of inherited the political legacy of his father R. Balakrishna Pillai, a former MP and Minister who held on to his constituency for over three decades.

The picture began to change in the 2010s, when various political fronts began banking on the popularity of stars to win difficult contests. In 2014, actor Innocent, one of the most popular comedians and character actors in Malayalam cinema, won from the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency. Although he could not repeat the win five years later, his victory changed several assumptions about the acceptance of actors in the electoral arena.

The years since then have seen a few more actors making their mark, be it actor M. Mukesh, who has won on an LDF ticket from the Kollam Assembly constituency in 2016 and 2021 or actor Suresh Gopi, who won from Thrissur in 2024 to give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) its first Lok Sabha constituency win in Kerala. Gopi’s win in the constituency was partly attributed to his image as an actor, as many neutral voters appeared to have chosen him instead of other seasoned politicians.

But, even in this changed scenario, it was not smooth sailing for every actor. Actors such as Jagadeesh (Congress), Bheeman Raghu (BJP), Dharmajan (Congress) and G. Krishna Kumar (BJP) have all tasted defeat in elections in the past decade. 

Current trends

Unlike in the previous years, the two superstars, Mammootty and Mohanlal, are in the thick of political conversations in the run up to the Assembly elections this time. Mammootty inadvertently found himself at the centre of a political controversy following his visit in March to the township built by the LDF government for families displaced by the catastrophic Mundakkai-Chooralmala landslides in 2024. A video of his interaction with a CPI(M) district secretary, asking him not to tail him, as it could lead the public to interpret his visit as being done at the party’s behest, went viral.

He has appeared in promotional videos of various major government projects, including the Perumbalam bridge, and the event for the declaration of Kerala as free from extreme poverty. Kickstarting a debate on his real political allegiances, he also appeared in a public video call this week to Ramesh Pisharody, actor and Congress candidate in the Palakkad constituency, wishing him luck ahead of nomination filing.

Actor Mohanlal, on the other hand, had an hour-long television interview with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a rare soft interview for the leader touching upon more of his personal life, compared to the series of tough political interviews the leader did this week. The actor also appeared in various State government promotional videos. However, rather than investing all his eggs in one political basket, Mohanlal appeared in the Union government’s citizen engagement platform hardly two weeks after the interview with the Chief Minister and hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a “visionary leader.”

Other than Ganesh Kumar and Pisharody, the candidate list this year has a host of actors including Sudheer Karamana, whom the LDF fielded from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency after much dilly dallying. Twenty20, a corporate-backed political party which is part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), fielded some lesser known actors and television personalities in key constituencies. Actor Anjali Nair was fielded in Thripunithura, Veena Nair in Ettumanur, Lakshmipriya in Perumbavoor, Promy Kuriakose in Angamaly and Bigg Boss Malayalam contestant Akhil Marar in Thrikkakara. However, Veena Nair and Lakshmipriya had to be replaced as their names were absent from the voter’s list.

The entry of an increasing number of actors into the electoral arena, without grassroot-level political experience, has kicked up a debate on whether political parties resorting to such shortcuts in the quest for victory bodes well in the long term. 

Published – March 27, 2026 07:40 pm IST