Maverick Vijay: How Tamil Cinema’s ‘Thalapathy’ Shattered Dravidian Dominance and Captured Tamil Nadu’s Youth Vote

On the last day of campaigning for the Tamil Nadu election, actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay was scheduled to address a public meeting at the YMCA Ground in Chennai. The meeting was slated for 4 pm, but women across age groups and scores of youngsters started arriving at 2 pm. Among them was Karthika, an undergraduate student and an ardent fan of “Thalapathy”. Asked what prompted her, as a first-time voter, to support Vijay, her answer was: “We want change.” When pressed to explain, Karthika struggled to articulate it in political terms. For her, change simply meant Vijay.

The yearning for change ultimately proved epochal. The six-decade dominance of Dravidian politics lay shattered as Vijay has marched into Fort St. George, the seat of power that houses the Tamil Nadu secretariat.

For Vijay, cinema was almost a predetermined destiny. At the age of nine, he was cast as a child actor in Vetri—a film produced and directed by his father, S.A. Chandrasekhar. Before graduating to lead roles and cementing his place as one of Tamil cinema’s leading stars, he appeared in several of Chandrasekhar’s films as a child artist.

During the uncertain years of his early career, his father remained a steady force, helping keep Vijay afloat when his films failed to make an impact. Although Vijay enters the political arena without any institutional backing, he has won the first battle. After N.T. Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh and M.G. Ramachandran in Tamil Nadu, Vijay is the only actor-turned-politician who has succeeded in his debut battle in politics. In an industry where legendary film actors like Shivaji Ganeshan, Rajanikanth and Kamal Hassan, who tried and left unsuccessfully, Vijay charts a new chapter, as a hero of the Gen Z, capturing the imagination of a wider section of women of all ages and children.

Vijay’s political ambitions had become increasingly evident when, in 2024, he transformed his fan organisation, Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, into a full-fledged political party—Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). Over the years, he cultivated an anti-establishment image through several films, blurring the lines between the cinematic hero and the political aspirant.

“He was treading cautiously,” says senior journalist Babu Jayakumar. Even before formally launching TVK, he had begun engaging with major public issues in Tamil Nadu.

In 2011, he organised a massive hunger strike in Nagapattinam, demanding the Centre’s intervention against repeated mid-sea arrests of and attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. In January 2017, he extended support to the massive protests against the ban on jallikattu. In 2018, following the police firing during the anti-Sterlite Copper protests in Thoothukudi, that left 14 dead, Vijay visited the families of some of the victims at their homes. “His interventions in issues affecting ordinary people have always been humane. The change he promises will transform the lives of ordinary people,” says Vijayakumar, a functionary of TVK from Madurai.

Political analyst Jenraam points out that TVK cleverly mobilised those below voting age as unofficial campaigners. “Young children pressured their parents and grandparents to vote for Vijay. It may sound anecdotal, but such dynamics appear to have influenced voting behaviour,” he says. The phenomenon underlines the unconventional methods through which Vijay converted fandom, aspiration and anti-establishment sentiment into political capital.

N.K. Bhoopesh is an assistant editor, reporting on South India with a focus on politics, developmental challenges, and stories rooted in social justice