The Congress might have failed to rope in superstar Mohan Lal for its Malayalam news channel last year, but it can find some consolation in the form of Devan, one of South India’s top character actors famous for his negative roles. Devan called on Sonia Gandhi on Friday and formally joined the party. The actor has appeared as a corrupt and unscrupulous politician in many movies, but does not think it will affect his political career. “Despite my characters, people do not think of me as a villain,” he says. Devan had floated Kerala People’s Party some years ago and contested two Assembly seats polling 949 and 3,000 votes. “But on the Congress platform, I will be able to do much more. It was not easy to run a party of my own,” he says, denying he has ambitions to claim any post in the party. “I shall remain a campaigner for the Congress using my popularity,” he adds.Unlike other South Indian states, Kerala has ruthlessly rejected in politics those it has worshipped on the screen. Prem Nazeer, the greatest Malayalam actor of all times, failed miserably as a Congress politician, while Mammootty has kept his engagement with the CPI(M) peripheral at the most. Devan says popularity can only pull in a crowd, and the rest of it is all cerebral. “If the people do not find you sensible they will not support you,” he says. Devan, who has acted in over 250 movies, believes Congress is the only party that can save the country and Kerala. “Communism was an anti-biotic that Kerala needed at one point. Now that is not needed and what we need is vitamins,” he says.
