Opinion Vijay’s massive rally in Tamil Nadu: What he needs to learn from DMK

The use of symbolism — a prominent triangular Tamil Nadu map with his own image flanked by that of former chief ministers C N Annadurai, the founder of the DMK and M G Ramachandran, founder of the AIADMK — signals that he is wedded to the Dravidian model, but is appealing to voters across both established parties. Annadurai and MGR brought tectonic shifts in the Tamil Nadu political landscape in 1967 and in 1997, respectively. In his speech, Vijay claimed that the 2026 elections would echo those moments with his party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), ready to script a major change. What are his chances of achieving this goal?

Vijay is the latest superstar to try and emulate MGR. The path from film star to politician, however, is not straightforward. MGR carefully made his image — from lyrics to visual markers — blurring the lines between reel and real image. Research shows how his well-crafted image of a subaltern hero, who could deal with injustice, gave the masses a sense of hope and agency. His victories as the underdog enabled the audience to perceive themselves as participants in the political process. Later, Rajinikanth did that in a more stylised way, rewriting the grammar of Tamil masculinity and cinema. His dark-skin and unkempt hair took him very close to the Tamil male audience and won him a devoted fan following. He also played roles as a working-class hero and was linked to politics from the mid-1990s. Perhaps, he started late and lacked a clear message, and thus, failed to match MGR’s success.

MGR, nonetheless, did not succeed through charisma alone. His introduction to politics came through the DMK. MGR’s association with the party and its realm of political and cultural discourse was mutually advantageous, helping both to grow and gain mass appeal. If films were the most important medium of political communication for the DMK, MGR was its most potent face and symbol. His DMK ties gave his role a political shape that subsequent stars lacked. Apart from his speeches and references to ancient, medieval and modern Tamil literature, the DMK pioneered a form of commemorative symbolism which continues to stand as a political template that every other party in the state seeks to follow. Vijay’s film career did not follow the same trajectory as that of MGR or Rajinikanth. But he lately addressed political issues in his films and donned roles of the “common man” or “boy-next-door”. He is often a student, teacher or military officer, and may appeal to the aspirant lower-middle-classes who constitute a significant vote base.

Vijay invoked both MGR and Vijayakanth in his speech and even sang lines from MGR’s most famous song — ‘Naan aanaiyittal, adhu nadandhu vittal’ (“Once I say something, it gets done”) — with which he launched his political career. He invoked E V Periyar, B R Ambedkar, K Kamaraj, Anjalai Ammal (freedom fighter and early Congress MLA) and Velu Nachiar (the first Indian queen to wage war against the East India Company) as TVK’s ideological fountainheads. He also reiterated that the BJP is his ideological enemy, while the DMK is his political enemy and claimed that the 2026 elections would be a fight between TVK and DMK, completely dismissing the BJP-AIADMK alliance.

Will it be possible for Vijay to replace the existing Dravidian ethos and emerge as the vanguard of Tamil political interests? This is not impossible, given his resources and popularity. But it is a daunting task for any new political party to usher in a change. According to writers S V Rajadurai and V Geetha, for almost a century, the Tamil political landscape has been marked by a strong political and cultural discourse centring around the notions of self-respect, honour and valour, which are now associated with the DMK. The ideological underpinnings of anti-Brahminism, Tamil self-respect, and linguistic nationalism may have been eroded since Periyar and Annadurai, but their legacy stays more strongly with the DMK than any other political party.

Displacing the DMK on this terrain will be difficult. The new political aspirants need to find a niche for themselves. If Vijay could build a strong ideological discourse to address the DMK’s major shortcomings — continued disempowerment of Dalits, the concentration of power in the hands of intermediate caste groups, and poor redistribution of power and resources to marginalised social classes — he could present himself as an alternative. The key is to build a strong ideological challenge as the DMK would harp on his inexperience and lack of political know-how. One way to mark a break with the past would be to do politics differently. If, for example, he can abandon the caste majoritarianist tendency of fielding candidates on the basis of caste calculations (which DMK pioneered) and choose candidates on merit instead. He can present himself as offering something radically different. If TVK can embody its core slogan, “Pirapokkum Ella Uyirkkum”, which roughly translates to “Everyone is equal by birth”, and nurture its political practice accordingly, it could revive the social justice model.

Vijay’s recent speeches and political action, however, do not show how he is going to ideologically tackle the DMK. Tamil politics is now played out in the public sphere both on physical and digital platforms. This is one area where Vijay potentially has an edge, but his online presence needs to deliver a coherent political message. Decades of Dravidian dominance have created a hegemony. Unless Vijay can present himself as a real alternative, or highlight the failings of the DMK, he might win some seats but would resemble Vijayakanth rather than MGR. TVK’s politics cannot sustain merely on his charisma.

Damodaran is an assistant professor of Social Sciences at the National Law School of India University in Bangalore. Gorringe is professor and head, Department of Sociology, at the University of Edinburgh, UK