In the movie ‘ Sarkar’ which was released in 2018, actor Vijay exposed electoral fraud. He played the role of a wealthy NRI businessman who has returned to the country to cast his vote but is unable as he finds out his vote has already been cast. The movie takes us through turns and in a dramatic move, the plot acts as a MacGuffin, and ‘Sundar Ramaswamy’ the character played by Vijay makes an entry into politics to expose corruption.

His party eventually wins the election and instead of becoming the CM himself, Sundar Ramaswamy chooses one of his supporters for the top post.

Actor Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam Rally

The public meeting in Villupuram (Tamil Nadu) where Vijay who addressed his party TVK’s (Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam) first state conference reminded us about this movie. He was blazing guns against the current setup of Tamil Nadu politics and took veiled shots at the DMK government. He spoke against what he called “ corrupt family politics” & “ divisive casteist & communal agenda” and assured the people to stick to the ideals of Periyar.

After fellow actor Pawan Kalyan climbed the political ladder and became Deputy CM in neighboring Andhra Pradesh, the rise of another ‘star ‘ in the political sky of Tamil Nadu is being watched with awe & threat by political class across the state which has already seen many actors turning into politician or what it is called in Tamil- ‘ Koothadi’ which is often used to describe to actors turning politicians.

Elections to the state assembly are due in 2026 in Tamil Nadu and all this political churning is for that only. While DMK has only become stronger over the years under the leadership of Stalin, AIADMK has become feeble after the demise of Jayalalitha and later after losing power.

Many political observers suspect that Vijay’s TVK may be eying a sizable portion of anti-DMK votes and may push AIADMK to corner with the help of charisma of Vijay who is fondly called Thalapathy in the state by his fans and followers.

Political scene of Tamil Nadu has been dominated by DMK & AIADMK since last many decades. Though there have been smaller Dravidian parties in past, they have usually sided with either of these two big parties. Congress has already been reduced to a mere smaller partner of DMK.

There was once a tall congress leader G K Moopnar who later founded Tamil Maanila Congress , but after him, party has never been able to produce leader of his stature. BJP is still to become a force in the state.

How far Vijay will be able to go into politics ? only time has an answer to that.