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Can Vijay deliver a blockbuster in politics?
Business Standard
|August 26, 2024
India's highest-paid actor is eyeing success in 2026 TN Assembly polls. But the plot may have many twists. SHINE JACOB writes
For more than two decades, Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar better known as Thalapathy Vijay has dominated the silver screen. A string of blockbusters 10 in a row and counting - has crowned him the highest-paid actor in India, with a paycheck for his latest film, Leo, topping ₹150 crore, and an even heftier sum of 200 crore for his forthcoming release, The Greatest of All Time (GOAT).
Yet Vijay's ambitions now stretch beyond cinema. His decision to enter Tamil Nadu politics has stirred a question on everyone's mind: Can he succeed where megastars like Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan faltered? When Vijay announced his political party, Thamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), on February 2 this year, he indicated that he would stop acting in movies after GOAT and another untitled film, and take a full leap into politics.
Last Thursday marked his official entrance into politics when he unveiled a party anthem and flag, which is a departure from the traditional Dravidian colour palette of red, black, and white.
Instead, TVK's flag sports two tuskers with a flower (Vaagai) at the centre and includes maroon colour with a yellow band in between a nod to Tamil kings of the Sangam Age when they wore garlands made of Vaagai flowers to celebrate victories on battlefields.
"I don't see it as a mere flag of a party. Rather, I see it as a flag of the victory of future generations of Tamil Nadu," Vijay said, addressing his followers "thozhargal (comrades)". With the 2026 Assembly elections in view, Vijay's political ambitions seem unmistakably serious.
The list of Tamil film stars who tested political waters include veterans like S S Rajendran, Sivaji Ganesan, M G Ramachandran (MGR), Jayalalithaa, Captain Vijayakanth, and Kamal Haasan.
This story is from the August 26, 2024 edition of Business Standard.
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