Vijay’s blockbuster opening: How cinema powered the TVK chief’s rise in Tamil Nadu politics

At Tirupattur in Sivaganga district, the counting of votes for the Assembly elections played out like a Vijay film.

During the final round of counting, election officials declared that the candidate belonging to the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) won by a single vote over his rival.

Now, take that in: a mere single vote.

This is pretty much a scene from Vijay’s own 2018 film, Sarkar. For those not clued into Tamil cinema, this film, directed by AR Murugadoss, revolves around a wealthy corporate professional who visits Chennai for a single day to cast his vote… only to find that his vote has been compromised. The peeved CEO — who, interestingly, is named Sundar Ramaswamy, which made fans draw parallels to Google’s Sundar Pichai — decides to stay back to fight his case, contest elections and assume political power in a storyline that can happen only in reel life.

Or so we thought, till the counting day of Tamil Nadu elections 2026, which resulted in a stunning debut for the actor-turned-politician as TVK emerged the single largest party with 108 seats. This unexpected result for a party, founded just over two years ago, is not just a reflection of the star’s charisma but also his decision to quit a thriving film career, one that had him earning more than ₹200 crores per project. Much like popular personalities and former Chief Ministers MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, who were both film stars turned politicians too, 51-year-old Vijay too banked heavily on the large fan base that he has been carefully building over three decades.

File image: Actor Vijay’s fans celebrate release of his ‘Sarkar’ on November 05, 2018.
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VELANKANNI RAJ B

This victory is also not just for his stirring political speeches and an electoral manifesto that promises many financial benefits to the people. It is also the result of message-laced commercial cinema that projected Vijay as the saviour of the masses, and which was probably amplified by the several political hurdles and red tape he faced at the time of release of these films.

“Vijay would have been just another actor, but every project landed in some controversy,” says film producer G Dhananjayan, “However, from Thalaivaa till the recent Jana Nayagan, his work has been pulled by political forces — so much that he decided to get into public life himself. I would say that politicians have driven him to politics.”

Dhananjayan says Kaththi (2014) was Vijay’s most political film. “He brought up issues that plagued farmers. It signalled that Vijay is aligned with the people,” says the producer, who adds that signing Sarkar was yet another step in the political ladder through cinema, “Destiny guided him to pick the kind of stories that marked his entry into politics.”

Time to lead

Rewind to 2002, and you have Thamizhan, in which Vijay plays a lawyer whose goal is to spread awareness about the law to the common man. In this movie, he pulls up several public servants — including a bus conductor who denies small change to a senior citizen and Corporation officials who neglect their official duties. Then there is Thalaivaa, the 2013 film that 29-year-old Mohamed Ashik, a fan, recalls with fondness. “Watching that film and its powerful scenes gave me goosebumps,” says Ashik, about the film which had sequences showcasing Vijay glorifying the importance of unity and saving people stuck in riots.

File image: A fan celebrates the release of the Vijay-starrer, ‘Thalaivaa’ on August 20, 2013
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RAGU R

Beyond the film’s content, Thalaivaa – which translates to ‘leader’ – is remembered for the challenges Vijay faced to get it released. Its tagline – ‘time to lead’ – reportedly irked the then Tamil Nadu Government led by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, thus leading to a two-week delay in its release. “Back then, watching Vijay and the Thalaiva team undergo so many hurdles just to release their film gave its extra hype, and hence, watching it FDFS will remain special to me,” describes Ashik, who hails from Kandalurkottai in Pudukottai district. “Many friends of mine, who are regulars at Vijay FDFS fan celebrations, voted for Vijay, with some even urging the elders of the house to do the same,” adds Ashik, who is also the admin of multiple social media pages like @Vijayfanstrends (500k followers) and ActorVijayUniverse (213K followers), besides TVK-related social media accounts.

The hitmaker

All this brings us to the beginning of 2026, when Vijay’s Jana Nayagan was set to hit screens. Said to be a heavy political film with emotional undertones, this movie – directed by H Vinoth – was supposed to be Vijay’s swansong before he turned to politics.

A still from Vijay’s ‘Jana Nayagan’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

The film, originally slated for a festive release on January 9 ahead of Pongal, was postponed due to the delay in granting a censor certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification and a consequent legal battle. To complicate things, Jana Nayagan was leaked in High Definition on April 10 on piracy sites, with clips making their way to social media platforms. This, however, created a massive emotional outpouring for Vijay.

“It obviously brought about a wave of sympathy in his favour,” says filmmaker Rathna Kumar, a self-confessed fan and the co-writer of hit Vijay films like Master and Leo. “In fact, we saw how much support he got from within the industry during those tough times. They may not have tweeted about his political entry, but when they realised that this had affected the lives of so many workers — and that it wasn’t just about money but also emotions — they had to condemn it.”

The release of Jana Nayagan, whenever it happens,will now hold special meaning to Vijay’s fans — for, it no longer stars Vijay the superstar; Vijay the politician will take charge. Witnessing this drama unfold along with thousands of his fans will be Vijay’s father, SA Chandrasekar, who introduced the actor in 1992’s Naalaya Theerpu (which translates to ‘tomorrow’s judgement’).

“Voters did not see him as a thalaivan (leader). They saw him as annan (a brother),” said a beaming Chandrasekar after the election results.

In the next few weeks, Vijay has several crucial decisions to make. He will have to negotiate for seats, maybe pass a floor test and if all goes well – the newly-minted politician will have an entire State looking at him with a lot of hope. Unlike his idealistic films, problems might not get resolved within a few sequences or the runtime of a song, but would need a more measured and practical approach. Will this political phase be a blockbuster?

(With inputs from Bhuvanesh Chandar)

Published – May 06, 2026 05:31 pm IST