With the announcement of his political party’s name, Vijay, whom his fans call Thalapathy (commander), has become another superstar politician in Tamil politics. But can his box office successes translate to the political field?
Will this be another Vijay Friday blockbuster? Fans of “Thalapathy” (commander) Vijay, who announced the name of his party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, on Friday, have finally seen Vijay Thalapathy enter politics. Aside from his massive box office receipts, Vijay is a real-life crowd-puller, something that Tamil Nadu politics has been missing for a while. The “Leo” star had hinted at his political entry in the previous few audio launches of his films, such as “Mersal” and “Varisu.”
Most of the audio launches started with “kutti kada,” or “little story,” narrated by “Thalapathy,” who mentioned happenings in Tamil Nadu or India and stressed the need to improve conditions for the average person.
VIJAY THALAPATHY COMMENTS ABOUT THE CHIEF MINISTER’S Position
In the 2018 motion picture “Sarkar,” Vijay Thalapathy’s persona nearly takes on the role of chief minister.
During the audio launch of ‘Sarkar,’ the anchor asked Vijay what would happen if he became the chief minister in real life. Vijay replied, ‘If I become the chief minister, I will never act.’ This shows how serious he is about the real-life role of a chief minister. Vijay explained that he saw most political leaders as acting rather than doing real work.
A “WARRIOR SUPERSTAR” SINCE VIJAYAKANTH
The last major “savior” superstar to enter the Tamil political scene was Vijayakanth, who formed the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in 2005. Since Vijayakanth played a variety of roles, his “savior” hero image helped him become a household name. The DMDK, a center-left party, ran for every seat in the 2006 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections but only won the seat that Vijayakanth got. Despite this, the DMDK received 10% of the vote. The height of Vijayakanth’s political career came in 2011, when he ran for Assembly in coalition with J. Jayalalitha’s AIADMK, winning 29 of the 41 seats it contested. The coalition went on to unseat the DMK but eventually broke up, and Vijayakanth’s DMDK never recovered to that level.
TAMIL NADU AND THE SUPERSTAR POLITICIANS, MGR,
also known as MG Ramachandran, joined the DMK in the 1950s and later founded the AIADMK. Tamil Nadu is full of examples of superstar politicians.