Vijayakanth

A young Vijayakanth on the cover of Cine Coffee magazine

Vijayakanth was cast in Inikkum Ilamai (1979), his first film where he played an antagonist, which was directed by M. A. Kaja. His second release was Annakili Selvaraj directed Agal Vilakku paired opposite Shoba, which was his first film as the lead. His film Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam (1980), was screened at the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India. His next film, Sattam Oru Iruttarai (1981), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar was successful, and was remade in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages. He then played a villain role in Om Shakti (1982) but after which he has never portrayed antagonist characters in his career.[7] He acted in various film such as Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal (1984). He had 18 releases and with this, he became the Tamil actor to release the most films in a year in the lead role.[8] He acted in Annai Bhoomi 3D (1985), the first 3D film made in the Tamil film industry where he acted alongside Radha Ravi and Kannada actor Tiger Prabhakar. He co-starred with Kannada superstar actor Vishnuvardhan in Eetti (1985). The romantic comedy film Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri (1985), in which he is a self-centered egoistic village Zamindar, who makes fun of people was a commercial success.[9] He acted in Amman Kovil Kizhakale (1986), which earnt him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. He also acted in Manakanakku (1986), "the only film where Kamal Haasan and Vijayakanth worked together till date", followed by Oomai Vizhigal (1986) which became a cult classic. It portrayed him in an unusual role of an aged cop. He co-starred with Sivaji Ganesan in Veerapandiyan (1987), followed by Cooliekkaran (1987), Veeran Veluthambi (1987), Ninaive Oru Sangeetham (1987), Sattam Oru Vilayaattu (1987) and Uzhavan Magan (1987). He worked in films such as Therkathi Kallan (1988) and Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran (1988). Senthoora Poove (1988) won him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. He also starred in two other films that year Paattukku Oru Thalaivan (1989) and Ponmana Selvan (1989), followed by the crime film Rajanadai (1989) and the devotional film Meenakshi Thiruvilayadal (1989).

Vijayakanth acted in several films in the 1990s including Pulan Visaranai (1990), loosely based on the life of a notorious serial killer Auto Shankar,and had R. Sarathkumar portraying the antagonist. Directed by R. K. Selvamani, this film was considered to be one of the best crime thrillers of its time.[10] At the end of the year, he acted in Sathriyan (1990), produced by Mani Ratnam, about an honest cop and a corrupt politician. After the success of Pulan Visaranai (1990), Rowther decided to start another project with Vijayakanth and director R. K. Selvamani, titled Captain Prabhakaran (1991). It was Vijayakanth's 100th film, after which he earned the sobriquet "Captain" ever since he portrayed an IFS officer.[11] He is the only actor from his period to have a jubilee box-office on his 100th film . The film was a commercial success upon its release,[12] followed by Maanagara Kaaval (1991) and Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum (1991). Vijayakanth worked in films such as Chinna Gounder (1992). This film was radically different from Vijayakanth's earlier portrayals, as he was donning the role of a soft-spoken village chieftain. This film was ranked third in Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film, followed by Bharathan (1992), Thai Mozhi (1992) and Kaviya Thalaivan (1992). He co-starred with the son of the director S. A. Chandrasekhar, Vijay in Sendhoorapandi (1993), where Vijayakanth plays the role of elder brother. Vijayakanth played an extended cameo role in this film for which he did not take any remuneration.[4] He starred in Sethupathi IPS (1994), followed by Honest Raj (1994), Pathavi Pramanam (1994), En Aasai Machan (1994) and Periya Marudhu (1994). He acted in Karuppu Nila (1995), Thirumoorthy (1995) and Gandhi Pirantha Mann (1995). He acted in action film Thayagam (1996), which won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize. This was followed by Tamizh Selvan (1996) and Alexander (1996). He starred in Dharma Chakkaram (1997), directed by K. S. Ravikumar. He acted in his 125th film Ulavuthurai (1998), followed by Dharma (1998) and Veeram Vilanja Mannu (1998). He played in Kallazhagar (1999), and co-starred with Suriya in Periyanna (1999). He starred in Kannupada Poguthaiya (1999), produced by R. B. Choudary.

Vijayakanth had three releases, Vaanathai Pola (2000) a rural family drama directed by Vikraman, which won two awards; a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film of the year and National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. This was followed by Vallarasu (2000) and Simmasanam (2000). After this year, he again played in action films such as Vaanchinathan (2001) directed by Shaji Kailas and Narasimha (2001). Then came Viswanathan Ramamoorthy (2001), in which he made a cameo appearance and the village dramaThavasi (2001). All these films received mixed reviews from critics at the box office. He acted in Raajjiyam (2002) and Devan (2002), co-starring with the actor and directed by Arun Pandian. Karthik also played the pivotal role of an advocate in a guest appearance . These three actors gathered after their 1986 film, Oomai Vizhigal. The next year, Ramanaa (2002), which was directed by AR Murugadoss, won him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film of the year and became a commercially successful. He had two releases, Chokka Thangam (2003) and Thennavan (2003), a political film that became average grossers at the box office. He acted in three films Engal Anna (2004), a comedy film which was a success,[13] however Gajendra (2004) and Neranja Manasu (2004) received negative reviews. Later, he did a special appearance in Suriya's film Maayavi (2005) as himself . He acted in three action films, Sudesi (2006), Perarasu (2006) and Dharmapuri (2006). The next year, he starred in Sabari (2007 ). His 150th film was Arasangam (2008), about a police officer who discovers and unravels the mystery behind a terrorist gang plotting to steal information about the growth of the Indian economy, set in Chennai then Toronto. He acted in Mariyadhai (2009), in the second film with director Vikraman, after Vaanathai Pola. He acted in Engal Aasan (2009), where he co-starred with Vikranth, the cousin of actor Vijay.

DMDK posters seen in Thanjavur

He acted and directed the film, Virudhagiri (2010), a remake of the French film Taken. After taking a hiatus of five years without films, he made a cameo appearance with his son, the first film of actor Shanmuga Pandian in Sagaptham (2015). In November 2015, he came back to acting in a feature film - Arun Ponnambalam's Thamizhan Endru Sol, alongside his son, Shanmuga Pandian, the second film with him. The film began production during November 2015, and had been temporarily suspended owing to the upcoming TN Assembly elections and the deteriorating health of Vijayakanth.[14] In 2018, he celebrated 40 years in Tamil cinema. He is the only actor to have done 150 films in Tamil.[5]

Official flag of Vijayakanth's party

He formed the center-left party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), a regional political party in Tamil Nadu. He formally announced the party's formation on 14 September 2005 in Madurai.[19][20] His party contested in all seats in 2006 assembly elections and won one seat contested by him. The DMDK, led by Vijaykanth, proved to be an important player in the 2006 Tamil Nadu assembly election, garnering 10% of the voters and securing 10.1% in this Lok Sabha election. According to the study, it secured more votes than the winning margins of candidates in about 25 constituencies. In 2006, polling showed that DMDK was able to get more DMK votes than AIADMK votes, but in this election, they were able to wrestle more Congress voters from 2004 than any other party. Contrary to the claim of many in the AIADMK camp blaming DMDK for the defeat, there is no evidence for this to be true.[21] Vijayakanth has declared that he would not ask donations for his party, and most of the funding for the party comes from his own pocket. He has so far rejected alliances with other political parties. In a by-election to Madurai Central assembly constituency, DMDK secured around 17000 votes, which is just 2000 votes less than AIADMK. DMDK was also able to secure a significant number of seats in Local Body elections.[22]

Shri Vijayakanth with DMDK delegation calling on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, in New Delhi

In the 2011 election, held on 13 April 2011, he formed an alliance with All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and contested in 41 constituencies.[23] His party saw success, winning 29 of the 41 seats it contested. Notably, DMDK won more seats than the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Vijayakanth occupied the position of MLA for the second time, winning the Rishivandhiyam constituency.[24] Cho Ramaswamy encouraged Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) to forge an alliance with AIADMK.[25] DMDK launched a vigorous campaign to defeat DMK; it made a resolution to call all parties to come together to defeat the ruling DMK in a conference held in Salem on 8 January, presided over by its leader Vijayakanth.[26] S. Ramadoss, leader of Pattali Makkal Katchi, expressed his dissatisfaction with people from the film industry ruling Tamil Nadu since 1967. He also urged voters not to vote for Vijayakanth with his long career as a Tamil actor.[27]

Following the election, Jayalalithaa and Vijayakanth had exchanges in the assembly that started the rift between the two parties.[28][29][30] Due to this reason, Vijayakanth got separated from AIADMK. In the 2014 parliament elections, DMDK forged an alliance with BJP, a non-DMK and non-ADMK alliance of parties such as MDMK, PMK, IJK, and other small parties. PM Modi gave special reference to him in the NDA leaders meet and referred him as his friend. DMDK Leader Vijayakanth lost his position as Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly as eight of his MLAs handed over their resignations to the speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.[31]

He lost both his seat and deposit in the 2016 election. A two-time MLA (2006 and 2011), he was contesting from the Ulundurpettai constituency in Tamil Nadu's Vilupuram district. He could manage only 34,447 votes, which saw him finish third. The seat was won by the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (AIADMK) candidate R. Kumaraguru, who polled 81,973 votes. His nearest rival was the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) candidate G.R. Vasanthavel, who managed 77,809 votes to finish second.[32]