Tamil superstar finally ready to take the political plunge

Tamil actor Vijay has kept his fans and observers guessing long enough on a blockbuster political debut. But Thalapathy, as he is popularly known, may be finally ready to take the plunge.

The actor, who is shooting filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Leo currently, is likely to take a break from films for two years starting January 2024 to prepare ground for the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. Leo is slated for release in October, post which Vijay could collaborate with director Venkat Prabhu on a project.

But starting January 2024, his sole focus is said to be his fan association — Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam — which is tipped to be his political launch vehicle. The association, which transformed into a welfare organisation, contested the 2021 civic polls in Tamil Nadu and won 115 seats out of 169 it contested.

Social media is already abuzz with exaggerated comparisons with the political plunge of MG Ramachandran who quit acting to become a full-time politician.

In recent years, Vijay has been dropping enough teasers to keep the pot boiling. From riding a bicycle to protest the rise in fuel prices to the controversy over anti-GST dialogues in Mersal to punch dialogues in political movies like Sarkaar, the actor has tipped his toe enough to test political waters.

The first real step into electoral politics came with his fan association contesting Tamil Nadu civic polls and surprising observers with its win rate. The Iyakkam comprises over a million fans who are eagerly waiting for the Thalapathy to declare his political entry before the next Assembly elections.

The latest hint from Vijay came in June when the actor felicitated toppers of Class 10 and Class 12 and advised them to read up on leaders like Ambedkar, Periyar and Kamaraj.

“You are the future voters. You are the ones who will select the next leaders. Today, people vote after getting money… each of you must tell your parents that they should not vote after taking money,” Vijay had said.

“Consider a politician who gives Rs 1,000 to a voter in a constituency that has 1.5 lakh voters. How much he must have given as bribe — nearly 15 crore? If a person gives a bribe of Rs 15 crore, think how much he must have earned before that. I want all this to be a part of your educational system.”

RSS ideologue and editor of Thuglaq magazine S Gurumurthy, however, sounded a note of caution for the actor. Success, he said, has been elusive for political aspirants from the celluloid world, even for a highly regarded actor like Rajinikanth who has held sway over the industry for over four decades now.

“When MGR branched off, there was already a strong foundation under him inside the DMK,” Gurumurthy reasoned. This foundation doesn’t exist for political aspirants like Vijay and Rajinikanth, he added.

For Vijay’s fans, however, past is not prologue. They are, in their Thalapathy’s indubitable style, waiting.