BARELY a year before the Tamil Nadu Assembly election, another filmstar has taken the political plunge. Karuppu (Black) MGR, as he’s called by his fans-turned-party lieutenants, actor Vijayakant, and his new party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) is all set to gnaw at the MGR vote bank, which now lies almost completely with AIADMK supremo, J Jayalalitha. On September 14, the actor launched his party and new flag (red and black with a circular yellow patch on which a hand holds a flaming torch) as thousands of fans cheered and hailed him as the ‘Puratchi Kalaignar (Revolutionary Artiste). Significantly, the antique blue van, once used by the late M G Ramachandran as his campaign vehicle, was the centerpiece of the event. It was placed at the ‘Puratchi Thalaivar MGR (Revolutionary Leader as MGR is called) Entrance’ of the meeting venue in Thoppur, about 8 km from Madurai. A portrait of MGR was placed prominently in front of the van. The strategy was to drench the massive Thoppur Maidan with the 1972 political nostalgia when MGR, then numero uno in the Tamil film industry, broke off his long association with the DMK to launch his own AIADMK. Converting his numerous fans into voters exploiting his screen charisma to win their hearts, MGR reigned in Tamil Nadu politics for 10 years from 1977 when his party won its first Assembly election. Vijayakant’s new party managers promise that while MGR took five years after forming his party to come to power, their own hero would become chief minister just eight months after launching the DMDK. ‘‘I was not just a MGR fan. I was obsessed with him,’’ Vijayakant said during his maiden political speech that went on for nearly two hours. He had MGR posters on his walls and even worked for the defeat of his own father, who was in the Congress, the actor told his cheering fans. While Vijayakant’s party launch event was all but blacked out in the two major television channels, Sun TV and Jaya TV, the actor live web-cast the entire event on his web site. Amma’s intelligence team is said to have watched every minute of the day-long show to report back to her the highlights of the proceedings. A popular action hero, Vijayakant, called Captain after the success of his film Captain Prabhakaran, made his political debut while his more popular senior, Rajnikant, remained reticent. Over the years, Vijayakant has become popular in roles of a hero fighting social and political evils. Will his political actions follow suit? ‘‘I will come to every little village and talk to you. I am not used to air-conditioned rooms. I am used to working hard on the rice mills under the hot sun and pouring rain,’’ he told his fans. Born in a village near Madurai, Vijayakant worked in his father’s rice mill before he got his first break in films. The actor loves to recall how he would carry about 200 to 300 heavy sacks of rice on his back every day when he worked in the mill. The school drop-out worked in 18 films and was then jobless for nearly two years after that. He now has 148 films to his credit. Vijayakant’s first film was Thoorathil Idi Muzhakkam (Sound of Distant Thunder) but it was Sattam Oru Iruttarai (Law is a Darkroom) that went on to become a hit. It was made in Hindi as Insaaf ka Tarazu with Rajnikant. How Vijaykant fares in politics is yet to be seen. But the success of his Madurai meet was encouraging especially after the disparaging remarks made by his detractors. As president of the South Indian Film Artistes Association, the star wields considerable influence in the film industry. But to win the elections he may need some help from the stars.
