Chennai: Vijayakanth follows a long line of people in Tamilnadu politics who first started out in the film industry before entering politics.
Among them, he was one of the few who carved a space for himself and created a small niche of loyal followers. Today, this overachiever who people never thought would make it big in films nor politics, but still did, celebrates his 65th birthday!
A SURPRISE HIT
It was 2002. Both Rajini and Kamal were ruling the film industry. Their respective films, ‘Baba’ and ‘Mumbai Express’, were to release on the same day.
Competing with them was Vijayakanth’s film ‘Ramana’, directed by the young and upcoming AR Murugadoss. No one at the time thought Vijayakanth had a chance. But ‘Ramana’ went on to become a surprise hit.
Vijayakanth’s career, both in film and politics, is like the film ‘Ramana’ – a surprise hit. No one thought he had the looks, character or the skills to become a hero. But he did. He acted in 155 films and delivered numerous hits!
No one gave him a chance in politics. But, he still jumped headfirst into it in 2005, floating the DMDK.
In 2016, only he won in Vridhachalam. In 2011, his party was the biggest opposition to the ruling AIADMK, overtaking the formidable DMK to the second spot.
It is easy to see here that whenever people thought Vijayakanth would fail, he always found a way to succeed. This is what his followers would be hoping for now.
I WILL GO ALONE
Today, Vijayakanth announced that his party will contest the parliamentary elections without alliance. In his birthday message to his party members, Vijayakanth has said politics must benefit the people and not interfere in all departments.
Criticising the government, he said,”We (DMDK) are in politics to abolish bribery and poverty. But, the people in power are trying to hold on to their places and not looking into people’s problems. The DMDK will commit itself to solve all these problems.”
He added that DMDK will field its candidates in all the 40 constituencies in the 2019 parliamentary elections. He thanked the people who prayed for his recovery when he went for treatment to America.
For his birthday, Vijayakanth gave a cheque for Rs 50,000 to the Dr M G R Home and Higher Secondary School for the Speech and Hearing Impaired, Ramavaram.