Dealing a massive blow to the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF), BJP candidate Suresh Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat by a margin of 74,686 votes, becoming the first saffron party nominee to win a Parliament seat in Kerala. The role that the slogan “A Union Minister for Thrissur, Modi’s Guarantee” played in Gopi’s victory is significant. On Sunday, the actor-turned-politician took oath as a Minister of State (MoS) in the third Modi government.
However, since then, rumours have been rife that Gopi is dissatisfied with the post he received as he expected a Cabinet minister post. Hours after the swearing-in ceremony, Gopi suggested that he wanted to “be relieved from the Cabinet” due to his film commitments and ongoing projects. This sparked considerable discussion, with the Opposition criticising him. Amid speculation that he might resign from his ministerial role, Gopi told The News Minute that his comments were “totally misconstrued,” denying that he ever expressed a desire to avoid a ministerial position.
Nonetheless, for Gopi, whose film career has experienced both soaring highs and significant lows, taking a break from the industry at this time could be a poor choice as he is currently in a good phase with promising projects ahead, following years of lacklustre work. At the same time, it needs to be mentioned here that if he decides to prioritise his cinema career, this decision likely stems from his past experience when he tried to revive his faltering movie career through political involvement, which ultimately backfired considerably.
Following his ascent to stardom and recognition as the “action hero” of Malayalam cinema in the early 1990s, Gopi’s career witnessed multiple superhits such as Ekalavyan, Mafia, Chukkan, Kashmeeram, Commissioner, Highway, Yuvathurki, Lelam, Summer in Bethlehem, Pathram, Vazhunnor, Crime File, and FIR, among others. Alongside Mammootty and Mohanlal, he established himself as a superstar with a massive fan following.
However, his streak of success came to an abrupt halt at the end of 1999, and 2000 saw most of Gopi’s films flopping, except for the action comedy Thenkasipattanam. Alarmingly, this trend continued into 2001, much to the concern of the star and his fans. Unable to do anything about it, Gopi watched as his career crumble, with years passing by without delivering a single hit.
Meanwhile, Gopi, who was a supporter of the leftist Students Federation of India (SFI) during his college days in the 1970s, later became an admirer of Indira Gandhi and the Congress and also shared a close relationship with the late chief minister and Congress veteran K Karunakaran. As his film career rapidly declined, Gopi entered politics in 2006, campaigning for LDF candidate VS Achuthanandan in the Malampuzha constituency and UDF candidate MP Gangadharan in the Ponnani constituency during the Assembly elections. “I am apolitical. I am doing this only because the candidate is my uncle,” he was quoted as saying by India Today while campaigning for Gangadharan. Meanwhile, regarding working for Achuthanandan, he said, “I admire him and his battles against all ills that plague our society.”
As one of the most powerful CPIM leaders in Kerala, Achuthanandan did not need Gopi’s past star power to win the elections. If Gopi thought this involvement would boost his visibility and revive his career, he was mistaken. Despite occasionally delivering hits like Bharathchandran IPS, Chinthamani Kolacase, The Tiger, and Nadiya Kollappetta Rathri, Gopi failed to maintain his success, and his foray into politics only backfired.
In the 2010s, Gopi mostly appeared in multi-starrer movies, having completely lost command over the box office and no longer being in a position to headline a movie alone and ensure its success. While he found success through multi-starrers like Janakan and Christian Brothers, his solo films continued to bomb, with examples such as Kanyakumari Express, Sahasram, Collector, and Rudra Simhasanam. He quietly stepped away from cinema in 2015.
In 2016, Gopi was sworn in as an MP in the Rajya Sabha, nominated by the President in the category of eminent citizens. He joined the BJP later that year. While serving as an MP, he contested as a BJP candidate from Thrissur in both the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 Assembly elections, but lost.
Even as his political career faced consecutive setbacks, Gopi made a comeback to the film industry in 2020. This time, his return was met with success, as director Anoop Sathyan’s Varane Avashyamund turned out to be a hit, and many praised Gopi for his performance. Though his subsequent film, Kaaval, did not achieve similar acclaim, it still helped him solidify his standing in the industry after decades of struggle. In 2022, he appeared in two movies. While Paappan performed decently at the box office, the satirical comedy Mei Hoom Moosa received moderate success. This was significant progress for Gopi, considering his career had endured a string of failures. In 2023, Gopi delivered his first solo hit in years as his film Garudan opened to good reviews and earned approximately Rs 27.35 crore worldwide by day 25, as per OTTPlay.
If Gopi takes a hiatus from the film industry now, it is likely to signal the end of his movie career forever. There’s a risk that he may never manage a comeback or achieve success if he decides to return in the future, particularly given the rapid evolution of cinema and aesthetics.
Currently, according to Manorama Online, Gopi is involved in a couple of major upcoming projects. While one of these is backed by Mammootty Kampany, as revealed by Gopi himself in a recent interview, he has committed to another project, produced by Gokulam Gopalan, reportedly with a budget of Rs 70 crore, dedicated to Sree Padmanabha Swamy. Manorama also noted that Gopi is slated to appear in the sequel to his blockbuster film Chinthamani Kolacase, directed by Shaji Kailas. Given the significant budgets involved in these projects, Gopi cannot easily withdraw from them. And, in short, Gopi has found himself in a pickle that requires careful navigation to avoid upsetting voters, film industry figures, and the BJP.
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