Paati politics: DMK and AIADMK hire the same grandmother for their TVCs

Kasturi paati is a famous woman, and much in demand these days. As Tamil Nadu gears up for Assembly election on 16 May, political arch rivals AIADMK and DMK seem to have reached peak excitement.

And in their excitement, they unwittingly hired the same grandmother (paati) to talk about how cool their party is.

In the DMK advert, the 67-year-old actor spoke about how Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK has done nothing for the common people. She stressed especially on her ire for the chopper rides Amma takes. In the AIADMK advert, the same paati can be seen thanking Tamil Nadu's current CM for her scheme, Amma Annadhanam which provides free meals at temples. She was paid Rs 1,500 for the former and Rs 1,000 for the latter.

GT Kasturi or Kasturi paati as she is fondly called denies that she knew she had been roped in by both the parties for the same purpose - to deride the other.

"Firstly, they did not tell me the shoot was for the two-leaves party (AIADMK). They just told me it's for a short film. Later, the other party (DMK) called me for another shoot. I told them I've already done the Amma Canteen shoot but there was a competition to rope me in," she said.

A DMK spokesperson attempted to gloss this over, saying, "Everybody knows these are advertisements. Perhaps the casting agent overlooked" while AIADMK women's wing spokesperson shrugged it off by declaring that "they are actors. They would come to whoever pays them."

True. They are indeed actors and would go to whoever helps them earn their bread and butter, but does that excuse these arch rivals from the responsibility of at least trolling each other after a bit a research?