VIDEO: 'Double' role jab for grandma Kasturi

Thiruvarur: First, she was seen praising Amma for feeding her when even her children didn't. Then she was seen panning Amma for heading a government that does not care. Meet Kasturi paati (grandmother), a 64-year-old domestic help whose claim to fame is that she features in the election ads of both the AIADMK and the DMK at the same time. The "double role" has earned Kasturi, who makes a few hundreds by playing an extra or doing bit roles in films, her share of ridicule. "Even the kids in our slum are teasing me with my dialogues in the two ads," she says. In the AIADMK ad, Kasturi is seen eating at a temple, courtesy the Annadhaanam scheme for the poor. Tears welling up in her eyes, she says: "My own children did not feed me. It is only Puratchi Thalaivi Amma who has given me food." The voiceover then dwells on the many welfare schemes introduced by the Jayalalithaa government. In the DMK ad, Kasturi is one of many characters that criticises the Jayalalithaa regime for non-performance. Angrily, she asks: "How can people who fly in the skies understand our problems? Why should a government that does not care for the people continue? Enough of this." The voice-over then urges the people to vote DMK so Tamil Nadu can walk proudly again. Kasturi, who has an expressive face, claims she has been made to look foolish by not being clearly told what she was shooting for. She says she was informed the first ad was for the AIADMK and that her dialogue would be in praise of Jayalalithaa, but not so with the second one. "In the second ad, which I did a week after the first, they were shooting different people at the same location. They gave me this line and asked me to speak before the camera after a few rehearsals," she says. "I was not told that it was for a DMK ad. If I had known, I would have turned it down as I would look foolish saying two opposite things." Kasturi says she supports no political party and did the ads only for money. While the AIADMK ad earned her Rs 1,500, the other one got her Rs 1,000. "Ultimately, we get what the agent hands us. For appearing in crowd scenes, I get paid Rs 450 a day," says Kasturi, who earns her livelihood mainly by washing utensils in Teynampet in central Chennai. Since the media zoomed in on her double role, Kasturi has become a talking point on social media. She is not sure if she will vote because she fears the TV cameras will trail her. "I am probably the only film extra who has become this famous," she chuckles. -The Telegraph, Calcutta