Political reluctance to TVK plunge: How Vijay's father shaped his journey

Vijay may have finally taken the political plunge at 50, but his entry into politics was planned more than a decade ago. It was orchestrated by none other than his father, SA Chandrashekar, the maker of more than 70 films and also Vijay’s cinematic career.

Initially, not happy with the suggestion that he enter politics, Vijay had distanced himself from his father. He apparently resented Chandrashekar's constant push to present him as a larger-than-life leader even in real life.

The father, it now appears, had the last word.

It was Chandrashekar who introduced Vijay as a child artiste in the 1980s and strengthened his portfolio as the male lead in the early 1990s.

Once Vijay established himself in cinema, his father helped him with the selection of films and his presentation in the plots.

However, Chandrasekar also showed a keen interest in politics. He openly spoke in public forums about his political aspirations and even tried to motivate Vijay. However, his constant goading had the reverse effect, with Vijay showing little interest in politics at that time and being more invested in building his career in cinema.

Watch: Vijay rally: Will Kollywood King become kingmaker in Tamil Nadu politics?

Trouble with Jayalalithaa

Things came to a head in 2013, when Chandrasekar invited trouble with his film Thalaiva, with the tagline “Time to lead”. Not only did it upset the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, but also his son Vijay, as the turn of events jeopardised the film’s business.

Though Thalaiva was released in other parts of the country and even abroad on August 9, it was not released in Tamil Nadu. The then state government denied it permission, citing security threats to theatres.

It was finally released in Tamil Nadu on August 20, 2013. Vijay released a video saying he had met Jayalalithaa and sought help to release the film. The tagline was also dropped.

Reluctant Vijay

Since then, Vijay remained extremely cautious about selecting his films and avoided making any political comments, either in his films or in public forums.

After Jayalalithaa’s demise in 2016, several actors joined the political fray in Tamil Nadu. Superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan launched their political parties, addressed cadres, and promised to contest elections. While Rajinikanth later dissolved his party, Kamal continued to contest, though his party, Makkal Needhi Maiam, also fizzled out and ended up being a partner in the DMK-led alliance.

Amid all this, Vijay remained focused on his cine career, which was going places.

Also read: Vijay's TVK party resolutions do not tread a new, trail-blazing path

Fan club frenzy

However, Chandrasekar never gave up. Way back in 1993, he started a fan club for Vijay, which he converted into a welfare association in five years.

And only four years ago, in November 2020, he declared that he had registered Vijay’s fan club as a political party — the All-India Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam — to recognise youngsters involved in philanthropic activities.

However, he made it clear that Vijay was in no way connected with the decision. Vijay himself rejected reports of his political entry. He even issued a statement saying he would not have any connection with the political party.

“I inform my fans and the public that there is no relation whatsoever between the political party that my father has started and me, directly or indirectly. I request my fans to not join the political party that my father has started or work for it. There is no connection between that party and our iyakkam (fan club),” he said in the statement.

Estranged from father

However, through films such as Mersal (2017) and Sarkar (2018), he did send across some political messages regarding current issues such as GST, demonetisation, the state of India’s healthcare, cash for votes, and the like. But in public life, he refrained from making any statements.

In fact, his differences with his father about political entry grew to the extent that they were not on speaking terms for four years, media reports said.

Apparently, it was Bussy N Anand, general secretary of the Iyakkam and now a leader of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), who acted as a binding force and encouraged Vijay to test his strength through local body elections.

Also read: Vijay balances Dravidianism with secularism, throws in some Tamil pride

Testing waters

The experiment worked. In October 2021, 169 youngsters contested in the local body elections in the name of the Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam. Of them, 115 won, including a woman candidate in Villupuram district who was elected as the panchayat president. As the tremendous responses amazed Vijay and his family, his interest in entering politics gained strength.

Since then, Vijay addressed a couple of events, including a student rally in Chennai. He asked youngsters to vocally advocate against accepting cash for votes and also mentioned the values of Dravidian icon EV Ramasamy Periyar, former Chief Minister K Kamaraj, and the architect of the Constitution, BR Ambedkar.

For the past two years, he has been felicitating top-scorers in Class 10 and 12 public exams. In December 2023, he distributed relief materials among flood victims in Thoothukudi. On occasions, he made remarks in support of Jallikattu and against NEET, and even mentioned the need for a uniform syllabus.

But he never spoke openly about his political ideologies.

Father’s dream comes true

Finally, ending all speculations, Vijay announced his political entry in February this year and introduced his party flag in August.

And then came his first conference on Sunday (October 27). His father Chandrashekar, along with Vijay's mother Shobana, a professional singer, was present at the venue in Vikiravandi to see his dream come true as a two lakh-strong crowd gathered to put his son’s doubts to rest. Vijay took his parents’ blessings before his maiden speech.

The journey won’t be easy for Vijay, to say the least. Tamil Nadu politics is dominated by the two Dravidian biggies DMK and AIADMK. Vijay has a big fandom in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, but he is a political newbie.

Also read: DMK, AIADMK dismiss Vijay's TVK as 'old wine'; BJP is happy

Will he make a mark?

Vijay made passionate statements before the crowd and asserted that he will contest the 2026 Assembly polls. Upholding democracy, social harmony, women’s education and empowerment, a rational mindset, and a two-language policy are important for his party, he said.

He clearly mentioned that he does not subscribe to atheism but would uphold principles such as secularism, social justice, and Periyar’s principles of equality.

But with these oft-repeated values, how different he will be in the crowded Tamil Nadu political space? Only time will tell.