Why Prem Nazir didn't become Chief Minister?

KOCHI: The people of Kerala did not choose Prem Nazir as the chief minister because they have proper schooling, according to veteran Tamil actor Charuhassan. The octogenarian actor, who took part in an interactive session at the Krithi International Book Festival here on Wednesday, regaled the audience with his free-wheeling talk and vignettes.   

"Most Tamils in those days were schooled in cinemas while you had enough schools," he said referring to the differences in the political culture in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. "The whole of India was having around 10,000 cinema halls when I entered acting. Out of this, 3,000 were in Tamil Nadu," he said. "In South India, for that matter, the figure was generally high compared to other parts, as Karnataka had 1,400 and Kerala 1,200. But fortunately, you had schools too," he said.

Saying education makes all the difference, he said this was the reason for Kerala's achievements. He also said both Mammootty and Mohanlal are way above most of the actors in Tamil.  

He took the credit for making his brother and actor Kamal Hassan an atheist. Tracing the lineage of his atheism to the influence of Periyar E.V. Ramaswamy, he said he had first listened to him at the age of 16 and since then had become a big fan of him. "I never believed that God ever existed. But I also don't believe in propagating such opinions of mine. All should be free to decide things for themselves," he said.