The actor Vijay, who portrayed himself as a moral corrective on screen, has created history in modern politics by leading his fledgling party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to victory in its maiden election. Remarkably, the win also ends a Dravidian duopoly that traces its roots back to 1967. On course to becoming the fourth professional cinema star to become Chief Minister – after MGR, Ms Janaki MGR and Ms Jayalaithaa – in a state with an established but curious political tradition by which cinema does not merely entertain but also governs, he is not an accidental politician.
In fact, Vijay was willing to give up a lucrative multi-crores career in films. He was convinced that politics is not something to be dabbled in as a hobby but to be taken up as a serious fulltime avocation. He sowed the wind in declaring that Jana Nayagan – still stuck with the censors in a blatant act of political intervention – would be his last film and he is reaping the whirlwind now. He chose politics as if he were destined to wear only that hat from now and he is inescapably full time into it now.
It is incredible that his political journey, which is well on its way to becoming a blockbuster as a cinematic success saga, should pitch him now as the people’s saviour for whom the public voted without caste or religious considerations. His connection with GenZ that attracts almost devotional loyalty may have helped considerably as the youngest of citizens, without a right to vote, brainwashed adults in the family to blow the ‘Whistle’ and ditch their regular pick of one of two Dravidian majors.
Like his movie career in which he rose in calibrated manner from the romantic hero to the angry young man and then on to a vigilante in his latest films, he plotted the start of his political career with single minded determination. He also chose to go straight to the people on his own rather than learn the ropes by joining an established Dravidian major. He stuck to being a political loner in Dravidian heartland despite several overtures, both from the AIADMK and the BJP, as he was willing to give it time if needed for his new career to take roots and flourish.
It is not funny how all forces united against him, especially after the fiasco of a stampede at his public meeting in Karur, which of course did lead to the spawning of many a conspiracy theory. They denied his last film its long-awaited release date. They dragged him over coals at CBI in inquiring about the stampede that killed 41 people. They placed impossible conditions on his rallies and public meetings, with pliant police honchos following instructions like a faithful dog.
The political establishment, which may have once bought off Rajinikanth when he was contemplating a political entry, set him upon Vijay while also influencing everyone else to decry his political foray. Vijay stuck to his guns and to political strategist Prashant Kishor’s advice not to align with either Dravidian party nor have any truck with the BJP and to fork out a path on his own, convincing him with the argument that 2026 may be a little early but 2031 would be the time to fulfil his Fort st George ambition.
Vijay ploughed a lonely furrow, unmindful of the coalition of forces against him that did not let him campaign as the leader of any political party would be allowed to before a poll. He had a simple message for his greatest supporters in the youth, telling them to convince their elders to switch and to go early to the polling booths themselves to avoid clashing with the regulars. The percentage of young voters by 9 am gave an early inkling of where the polls may be headed even before the women, his largest group of supporters, could get to the EVMs.
Calling the BJP an ideological opposite and terming the DMK his sworn political enemy, Vijay was steadfast in his Tamil identity while pledging loyalty to the ideals spelt out by Dravidian leaders like Periyar and Annaduari. Tactically, he promised much the same things to the electorate – money for women to run the household, unemployment allowance for unemployed graduates, waiver for farm loans and even a fanciful Ministry of Artificial Intelligence – and all this only helped the connect with the voting public grow.
The most bankable cinema star had touched the hearts of Gen Z, seduced the women with his cinema charm, vowed the youngsters eyeing a secure future and having learnt that the voting patterns and the general profile of those casting their votes, he went on a temple run as if to stress to the people resident in the Dravidian heartland that he is a man who will not abandon his faith for the sake of ideology or votes.
They castigated his lack of political experience while pointing to how MGR had been in politics for long before breaking away from the parent DMK and forming his own party. Like in cinema, he might enjoy learning to swim at the deep end much in the fashion of the all-conquering Tamil folk heroes who fought off their oppressors to emerge triumphant. In this, he was more Jayalalithaa than MGR as he faced the initial hurdles on his own to emerge victorious, making the victory even sweeter.
In the modern age of instant communications and social media, Vijay’s cult figure status was sufficient to dispel doubts over the handling of the intricacies of administration and judging the changing political cadences of Tamil Nadu’s identity politics. In typical cinematic style of the rescuer in any crisis, he had promised – Naa Varen (I am coming). And he has indeed arrived.
