Chennai: The grand audio launch event of Sarkar in Chennai saw everyone, including the film’s producer and Sun Group chief Kalanithi Maran, hailing its protagonist Vijay as Thalapathi and this has not gone down well with a section of DMK members, who are venting their anger on social media.
For the uninitiated, Thalapathi is the sobriquet of DMK president M K Stalin right from his stint as the party’s youth wing head. Vijay, who was being called as Ilaya Thalapathi, graduated as Thalapathi from Mersal and the Thalapathi chants hit the roof at the music release event of his upcoming flick Sarkar, where the actor dropped enough hints about his political foray.
With Sun Pictures being the producers of Sarkar, the event was aired on Sun TV during the prime time slot on Gandhi Jayanthi and became the talk of the whole State.
A Facebook post by Murugan, a DMK worker from Tiruttani, said, “Kalanithi Maran sir, in the name of business, the words uttered by Vijay in your presence are not right. It seems you consider only two persons as stars in Tamilnadu and they are Rajini and Vijay. Money alone is not life. Please learn to live with self-respect like your father (late Murasoli Maran, senior DMK leader and former Union Minister). Without DMK president Kalaignar (Karunanidhi), you and your Sun TV are not there. Long live Kalaignar. Our Thalapathi (Stalin) is the only star of Tamil people. Time will give you answer if you act without gratitude.”
A DMK office-bearer, who wanted to remain anonymous, said, “We are not bothered about others hailing Vijay as Thalapathi. But Kalanithi Maran himself calling the actor so and Sun TV highlighting it hurts us. More than a decade ago, Sun Group’s Dinakaran newspaper published a survey which caused a big split in Thalaivar’s family, resulting in the death of three workers of the media house and the birth of Kalaignar TV. Now that Karunanidhi is no more and Lok Sabha elections are fast approaching, unity is the need of the hour to take on rivals.”
While DMK sources maintained that Stalin is not bothered about such ‘trivial’ issues, his son and actor-producer Udhayanidhi Stalin, while replying to a question from a Twitter user on “how DMK men will view Vijay being called as Thalapathi”, said, “Yes, Vijay anna is cinema field’s Thalapathi and Ajith sir is cinema field’s Thala. It is right.”
Sources in Sun Group said business and politics are different and it was only a cinema function. “Vijay is a top actor and he is being called Thalapathi already. While doing a film with him, we, too, have to call him so. This should not be connected with politics,” they said.