Who was 'Captain' Vijayakanth, actor-turned-politician?
Vijayakanth passes away
71-year-old actor-turned-politician who was battling Covid-19 died in Chennai on December 28.
'Captain' Vijayakanth
Popularly called 'Captain', Vijayakanth boasted of a successful career in Tamil film industry before stepping into politics.
The Tamil star!
Known as 'Raja of B and C Class theatres’, Vijayakanth whose movies drew audiences mainly in smaller towns featured in 154 movies.
Why 'Captain'?
Captain Prabhakaran, Vijayakanth's 100th film (1991) propelled his stature to superstardom & the moniker stuck with him for life. It was his biggest
Notable projects
His most notable movies include Sethupathi IPS (1994), Maanagara Kaaval (1991), Rajadurai (1993), Thai Mozhi (1993), and Honest Raj (1994)
Transition to politics
In 2005, Captain founded Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazgam and next year DMDK contested all 234 seats. Though, only he won, new party got 8% vote share.
Leader of Opposition
In 2011, DMDK, AIADMK collaborated. His party fought on 41 seats, winning 26. DMDK became principal Oppn Party & Vijayakanth became Leader of Oppn.
Vijayakanth, 2-time MLA
He served as Member of Legislative Assembly twice, representing the Virudhachalam from 2006-11 and Rishivandiyam from 2011 to 2016.
DMDK's downfall
Vijayakanth who presided over DMDK throughout faced health issues since 2016 which reflected in party's performance in 2016, 2019 & 2021 elections.