Another tinsel town star in Tamil Nadu politics? Actor Vijay drops clear hints

Chennai: Cup’u mukkiyam, Bigilu (Winning the cup is important). This is how popular Tamil actor Vijay responded when asked about 2026, the year Tamil Nadu will face its next assembly elections, in the clearest indication that he will take the political plunge soon. 

 The dialogue -- Cup’u mukkiyam, Bigilu – is from his 2019 movie Bigil which revolves around a football coach. 49-year-old Vijay, who made a rare public appearance at the success meet of his latest flick Leo on Wednesday night, dropped further hints about his political journey and asked his fans not to waste “fighting” on social media as they have a “lot of work” to do. 

 Vijay, who carries the title Thalapathy (commander), has been teasing his political entry for the past few years, but this time he is serious as efforts are under way to transform his fans’ club, Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, into a political party. 

Sources close to the actor told DH that Vijay was interested only in the 2026 assembly elections and not 2024 Lok Sabha polls and pointed to the hints he threw in his Wednesday speech. The sources added that the actor will make a formal announcement about his political plunge in mid-2024 after the Lok Sabha polls. 

 Vijay is actively preparing for his political outing by constituting various wings for his Vijay Makkal Iyakkam. “Wednesday’s speech is a clear sign that Vijay will launch his party very soon. The VMI already has 25 wings and all of them are being reactivated now. We recently launched an IT wing and advocates wing and we might be launching more wings very soon,” a source added. 

 Vijay will be the latest actor to don the hat of a politician when he launches his party in 2024 – the film industry and politics in Tamil Nadu have always been intertwined in the past. Kamal Haasan was the last actor to launch a party, Makkal Needhi Maiam, while his long-time friend Rajinikanth couldn’t keep up his date with politics due to ill health. 

 Vijay’s super seniors in the tinsel town M Karunanidhi, M G Ramachandran, and J Jayalalithaa rode like a colossus in the political landscape for over 50 years, firmly establishing Dravidian politics in Tamil Nadu. However, Vijay’s senior Vijayakant, who gave him a break in films, couldn’t succeed in politics like others. 

 Vijay is also likely to take a break from acting once he launches his political party to focus entirely on politics. “He has not signed any new film for now. He is clear he doesn’t want to be in both fields at the same time,” he added.

 Wednesday’s success meet seemed to have been planned carefully to subtly announce Vijay’s future plans. The actor shook a leg to a popular number from Leo, Naan ready (I am ready), and spoke in detail about the debate on ‘succession’ in Tamil cinema by making it clear he doesn’t want to be a superstar but Thalapathy forever.  

 “Of all the stars in Tamil cinema, there is only one Puratchi Thalaivar (MGR), there is only one Nadigar Thilagam (Sivaji Ganesan), there is only one Puratchi Kalaignar Captain (Vijayakant), there is only one Ulaga Nayagan (Kamal Haasan), there is only one superstar (Rajinikanth, and there is only one thala (Ajith),” Vijay said.

 “You all know Thalapathis always take orders from the kings. I believe you are my king, and I will be your Thalapathy,” Vijay added, indicating his political ambitions.