Actor Jaggesh is in a celebratory mood with his elder son Gururaj’s wedding around the corner. While the ceremony will be held in London on April 24, the star is even more excited, as his much-awaited film Agraja is finally seeing its release this week.
“People will enjoy watching the movie this election season, as it deals with the current situation in our country. The film talks about abolishing corruption, and yet it has a commercial element. Darshan has done an excellent job as an IAS officer,” he says.
Jaggesh says his involvement in politics helped him connect with the script of Agraja. “For an actor like me, it was not a monotonous role. I related many of the scenes in the movie to my own experiences as a politician,” he says.
“It’s not just the politicians who are corrupt, there are even some people who become money mongers. Today, one cannot be sure as to who is wrong and who is right. There is a clash between the good and the bad, and even good people are put in the same bucket as the bad. Agraja will be a splash of the good, bad and ugly, which is showed in a little more than two-and-a-half hours. Director Srinandan took a different dimension for the concept,” says Jaggesh.
Speaking about his career, he says, “There are so many examples in my own political career. One such incident occurred in my constituency in 2004-2007. There was a group called Shree Shakti for whom I had organised training camps during my tenure. The group leader, after attending the camp, came up to me and said: ‘You spoke so well, but that doesn’t suffice here. It all depends on how much cash you can shell out.’ I am an actor leading a good life with my family. I came out to serve the people. Such incidents used to shock to me. What is the use of coming into politics, I used to wonder. Everybody wants money. I have seen some politicians weeping like babies and regretting entering this field, but cannot back out. They feel they are trapped,” he observes.
“People in the city don’t turn up to the booths for voting. A lot of them feel that they can take the country forward by being active on social networking sites,” he says.
Jaggesh also admits that being in politics today is a waste of time. “The purpose is not served. There is no response to the good things that you do. People are disturbed and always in doubt. I have tried to tell some good things through my films. I came to politics to do that. But when I got into it, the question in my mind remains, ‘Who is good and who is bad?’. We are not gods, but human beings. So we support people who are on the right track. I have seen a good human being in Modi. The way he conducts himself, his aim for the country is positive. I feel he is dynamic and can run the country and I support him,” he says.
Jaggesh, who is taking a break for his son’s wedding, will be back in May and will start with Lucky Shankar’s project, following which he will be joining Yogaraj Bhat’s Vaastu Prakara.