‘Thalapathy’ Vijay: Tamil Nadu abuzz with talk of a blockbuster political debut

“Everything needed to start a political party is being done now. Our fans are currently being energised with specific local tasks and programmes. Basic data collection from all districts concerning voters and key issues is being carried out. Some agencies are being contacted for future predictions of issues and agendas. There is no fixed date for the party’s launch, but it will be after Lok Sabha elections. He has made up his mind,” a senior member of the Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyyakam said.

Sources close to him in the film industry said Vijay would not headlong push into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections but plan gradually.

Detailing the actor’s plan, they said: “His father (director S A Chandrasekhar) initiated his political plans in 2009 when the fan group was formed. Vijay has always been uncertain and unsure about his political destiny. In 2021, he told us privately that he might not consider politics until a significant political vacuum arises in the state. However, his current move (of starting groundwork) might be to advance his plans, indicating a decision to join state politics currently dominated by (Chief Minister) M K Stalin and (AIADMK leader) Edappadi K Palaniswami.”

Another friend said Vijay was preparing for the 2026 Assembly polls. “It (joining politics) requires significant effort and time. But he believes he has a space here, especially with the gradual retreat of DMDK leader Captain Vijayakanth (a yesteryear Tamil star), and Rajinikanth’s decision to abort his political plans,” the friend said, also referring to “the larger political void in the state following the deaths of DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi and former chief minister J Jayalalithaa”,

Asked if the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would decide Vijay’s plans, the friend said that would not be the case. “It is not about who is in power in Delhi.” However, the friend added, “the growth and resurgence of the Congress in a post-election scenario will influence his decision”.

Vijay and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi have met in the past. In fact, the initial rumours about the actor’s political debut surfaced after he met Rahul at his Delhi residence, which was a decade ago.

Subsequently, his father Chandrasekhar came to be seen as pushing political ambitions for Vijay, with the latter seen as hesitant. In 2020, Chandrasekhar had formed an outfit called the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI), apparently without Vijay’s permission. In September 2021, Vijay had publicly distanced himself from the VMI and even filed a lawsuit against 11 individuals, including his parents. The VMI was subsequently dissolved.

A month later, Vijay had made an indirect foray into politics, when members of his fan organisation contested rural polls, and won 115 of the 169 seats, though it was under an informal arrangement. Vijay’s criteria for choosing the contenders is said to have been “educated youth” and “equal representation for women”.

According to sources, in his latest bid, Vijay is acting on his own and has distanced his father from his camp.

The film industry in Tamil Nadu has always been intertwined with politics, with the two major parties in the state — the DMK and AIADMK — famously led by popular film personalities. While the DMK’s Karunanidhi was a screenwriter, the AIADMK’s M G Ramachandran, or MGR, was a popular matinee idol. His successor Jayalalitha was a successful and renowned actress. Current Chief Minister M K Stalin’s son Udayanidhi Stalin, the Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development, is also an actor.

Other major actors have also flirted with the idea of politics. For years, there has been a buzz about superstar Rajnikanth’s political entry, with alleged backing of the BJP and veteran political strategists such as Tamilaruvi Maniyan, until he said in 2020 that he was dropping the plan.

Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maalam (MKM), launched in 2018, has so far failed to make a major mark.

Among the stars dabbling in politics, Vijayakanth, who had his heydays in the ’80s, had achieved some success. However, he was never considered a “superstar” in the league of the others before him, often branded as the “King of B and C Class theatres”.

Vijay, on the other hand, is a massive star and is considered one of the leading film personalities in the state. His films continue to enjoy mega commercial success and he himself has a huge following. It is this status that he is expected to tap into as he makes his way to politics.

However, Vijay’s political foray will find resistance from the DMK as well as the BJP. Stalin has already started grooming Udhayanidhi as his successor, and he has been taking breaks from his acting and producing career to increasingly focus on the party.

The BJP does not have a veryr amiable relationship with Vijay, with the actor drawing party ire for his barbs against Digital India and GST, the flagship initiatives under the Narendra Modi government, in his 2017 movie Mersal. Then BJP national general secretary H Raja had even attributed communal motives to Vijay, referring to him by his rarely used original Christian name, Joseph Vijay. He had gone on to tweet Vijay’s voter ID with his real name, commenting: “Truth is bitter.”

But for fans, it is Vijay’s relative youth appeal — he is 48 — that is his biggest draw, representing a break from traditional, legacy politics. “People will vote if you have a convincing face and dedicated youth behind you. Factors such as old faces, veterans, and legacy belong to old politics,” said one of the leaders of his fans’ association.