Vijayakanth
Vijayaraj Alagarswami, known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politics in the later part of his career and founded his own party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.
Vijayakanth acted in over 150 films in his career. Some of his popular films include Vaidehi Kathirunthal, Amman Kovil Kizhakale, Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran, Senthoora Poove, Pulan Visaranai, Chinna Gounder, Honest Raj, Thayagam, Vaanathaippola and Ramanaa. He was nicknamed "Captain" following his role in the film Captain Prabhakaran. He was also credited as "Puratchi Kalaignar" in the film titles as he often appeared in roles as a law enforcer, vigilante, or a village head. He won two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and was awarded the Kalaimamani title in 2001.
Vijayakanth served as the president of the Nadigar Sangam from 2000 to 2006. He is credited with bringing the association out of debt and establishing a charitable trust that paid pension to low-income members of the film industry. He was likened to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran for his humanitarian work and for his role in supporting impoverished personnel from the Tamil film industry. He accepted deferred remuneration for certain films to help struggling film producers and also preached for food equality on film sets, demanding that all the crew members must be given the same quality meals that he was served.
After founding his own party in 2005, he served as a Member of Legislative Assembly for two terms from 2006 to 2016, representing the constituencies of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively. He led his party to win the second-most seats in the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election and served as the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. He remained as the leader of his party until his death in 2023. He was known for his "open and bold stance" during his political career. In January 2024, he was posthumously awarded India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, by the Government of India.
Early and personal life
Vijayakanth was born as Vijayaraj Alagarswami in Madurai on 25 August 1952. His parents were K. N. Alagarswami and Aandal. Vijayakanth grew up idolising M. G. Ramachandran and displayed passion towards community and societal issues. During his young age, his father was concerned about Vijayakanth as he showed less interest towards studies and was more interested in cinema. His father ran a rice mill at Keeraithurai where Vijayakanth went on to work and surprised him with his administrative skills.Vijayakanth married Premalatha on 31 January 1990 and had two sons. His son Shanmuga Pandian is also an actor.
Film career
1978 to 1989: Early career
In 1978, Vijayakanth engaged in a photo shoot in Rasi Studios in Madurai with the aim of acting in films, which helped him garner attention. He later gave credit to the chief photographer R. Asaithambi, indicating that the photographs eventually helped him earn a spot in the film industry. Vijayakanth traveled to Chennai to pursue his passion in acting, even though he did not have any cinematic background. He was cast in a supporting role as Rajnikanth's younger brother in En Kelvikku Enna Bathil by the director P. Madhavan, for which he received an advance of. However, he was later replaced by Ceylon Manohar after the director was unimpressed with Vijayakanth's acting. He claimed to have lost several film opportunities during the early stages of his acting career largely due to his darker complexion. In 1979, Vijayakanth made his first film appearance in M. A. Kaja's Inikkum Ilamai, when he was first credited with his screen name "Vijayakanth". The film was a critical and commercial failure. Though his subsequent films Agal Vilakku, Neerottam and Samanthipoo also did not perform well at the box office, his film Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam was screened at the International Film Festival of India. The later film was lauded by viewers and became a turning point in his career.In the next few years, Vijayakanth often portrayed the character of an angry young man in films with revolutionary story lines such as Sivappu Malli and Jadhikkoru Needhi. He became a popular commercial hero after his role in Sattam Oru Iruttarai, directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar, with whom he collaborated in numerous films thereafter. The film became a hit and was remade in several other Indian languages. He played the villain in Om Shakti, which was his last antagonist part in a film. His subsequent commercial films included Dowry Kalyanam, Nooravathu Naal and Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal, which became successes. He became lead actor to appear in the most films in 1984. He acted in Annai Bhoomi, the first 3D film made in the Tamil film industry, alongside Radha Ravi and Tiger Prabhakar. He acted in the commercially successful romantic comedy Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri and co-starred with Vishnuvardhan in Eetti and. He went on to act in Amman Kovil Kizhakale, which earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil; the film ran for 150 days in theatres. In 1986, he appeared in Manakanakku, the only film in which he worked alongside Kamal Haasan.
Vijayakanth's next film was Oomai Vizhigal, which became a cult classic and was lauded as a film way ahead of its time. It portrayed him in a role of an aged cop and made him one of the popular actors of the time alongside Rajinikanth, and Kamal Haasan. In 1987, he co-starred with Sivaji Ganesan in Veerapandiyan, and acted in Ninaive Oru Sangeetham. He was given the epithet "Puratchi Kalaigner" by film's producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu after his performance in Cooliekkaran. On 21 October 1987, Vijayakanth had two theatrical releases as both Uzhavan Magan and Sattam Oru Vilayaattu, both of which were commercially successful. Uzhavan Magan also marked the first collaboration between Vijayakanth and his longtime friend Ibrahim Rowther, who produced the film. In 1988, he worked in films such as Therkathi Kallan, Nallavan and Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran. He won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Senthoora Poove. In 1989, he starred in the commercially successful films Paattukku Oru Thalaivan, and Ponmana Selvan. This was followed by the crime thriller Rajanadai and devotional film Meenakshi Thiruvilayadal.
1990 to 1999: Action roles
In the 1990s, Vijayakanth established himself as an action icon with a consistent box-office appeal. He was best known for low-budget films that often featured gravity-defying stunts in which he would single-handedly dispatch his enemies. Rowther produced many of his films and played an instrumental role in Vijayakanth's rise as an actor in the early 1990s. He also assisted Vijayakanth in choosing the film scripts. Rowther and Vijayakanth combined for many of the films including Pulan Visaranai, Captain Prabhakaran, Bharathan, Rajadurai, Sakkarai Devan, En Aasai Machan, Gandhi Pirantha Mann, Karuppu Nila, Ulavuthurai, Dharma and Simmasanam. Pulan Visaranai, which was directed by R. K. Selvamani and featured R. Sarathkumar as the antagonist, became one of the most popular crime thrillers of the time. He later starred as an honest cop in the hit flick Sathriyan, produced by Mani Ratnam. After the success of Pulan Visaranai, he collaborated with Selvamani for Captain Prabhakaran, which was Vijayakanth's 100th film. The film became one of the highest grossing films in 1991 and ran for over 500 days in theaters. He got the sobriquet "captain" after the success of the film.Vijayakanth acted in the movies Maanagara Kaaval and Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum in the same year. In 1992, he appeared in the role of a village chief in the film Chinna Gounder, which turned out to be an experimental film and a cult classic in the later years. The song "Antha Vaanatha Pola" from the movie became popular, and eventually became a popular meme in the later years. He later appeared in films such as Koyil Kaalai, Ezhai Jaathi, Sakkarai Devan, Rajadurai and Enga Muthalali. He co-starred with Vijay in Senthoorapandi, where he plays the role of elder brother. He played an extended cameo role in this film for which he did not take any remuneration. In 1994, he appeared in Sethupathi IPS, Honest Raj, Pathavi Pramanam, En Aasai Machan and Periya Marudhu. His later films included Karuppu Nila, Thirumoorthy and Gandhi Pirantha Mann. He won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for his performance in the action film Thayagam. This was followed by Tamizh Selvan and Alexander in 1996. In 1997, he appeared in the film Dharma Chakkaram which was directed by K. S. Ravikumar. He acted in his 125th film Ulavuthurai in 1998, followed by Dharma and Veeram Vilanja Mannu in the same year. In 1999, he acted in Kallazhagar, and Periyanna, in which he acted alongside Suriya. He later starred in R. B. Choudary's production, Kannupada Poguthaiya.
2000 to 2009: Experienced roles
In 2000, Vijayakanth played a dual role in Vaanathai Pola, 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. His acting in Vallarasu received widespread attention, in which he played a cop who took on a terrorist group. He played three different roles in his next movie Simmasanam. He acted in action films Vaanchinathan directed by Shaji Kailas and Narasimha. Though the later failed at the box office, Vijayakanth was praised for his action, and the film became a unique component in Tamil pop culture. Narasimha was considered as a spiritual sequel to Vallarasu. He made a cameo appearance in Viswanathan Ramamoorthy and appeared in a dual role in the village drama Thavasi. His next film Raajjiyam failed to deliver in the box office and it turned out to be a box office bomb. In 2002, he acted in guest appearance in Devan, directed by Arun Pandian.Vijayakanth collaborated with director AR Murugadoss in Ramanaa, in which he underplayed an action hero and anti-corruption crusader. The film won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film of the year and the film became commercially successful. In 2003, he had two releases, Chokka Thangam, a family drama and Thennavan, a political film. In 2004, he appeared in a comedy-drama, Engal Anna which was a commercial success. However, his next films Gajendra and Neranja Manasu, which were released in the same year, received negative reviews. Later, he did a special appearance in Suriya's film Maayavi. In 2006, he acted in three action films, Sudesi, Perarasu and Dharmapuri, all of which failed to deliver at the box office and received negative reviews from critics. The following year, he starred in Sabari and his 150th film was Arasangam, which was about a police officer who discovers and unravels the mystery behind a terrorist plot. He acted in the drama Mariyadhai, in his second collaboration with director Vikraman, followed by the action film Engal Aasan, in which he co-starred with Vikranth.