 "Stampede")
A stampede on Saturday at a rally addressed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) President and superstar-turned-politician Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar — popularly known as Vijay and “Thalapathy” — in Karur claimed at least 40 lives and left more than 100 injured.
Vijay’s political gatherings have been drawing huge crowds in recent months. But immediately after the tragedy, the actor took a special flight back to Chennai, while Chief Minister M K Stalin and other Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) ministers rushed to the spot — a move critics describe as his political immaturity. On Sunday, the TVK, on the defensive, demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident, alleging a possible DMK conspiracy.
Vijay is India’s second-highest-paid actor, after Allu Arjun, reportedly charging between ₹200 crore and ₹275 crore per film. His political foray seeks to pitch the TVK as an alternative to the DMK, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu. Comparisons with the late former CM M G Ramachandran (MGR) have followed, though many see the parallels as overdrawn.
“Vijay can never be an MGR. Not in politics, not even in cinema, where MGR’s influence on people’s lives was unparalleled. These crowds came to see Vijay in person for the first time, as he rarely engaged with the public during his acting career,” said film industry tracker Manobala Vijayabalan.
Star-driven parties
Vijay is not the first southern film star to launch a political party, but the success rate has been low. The exceptions are MGR, who founded the AIADMK, and N T Rama Rao (NTR), who created the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Both went on to become popular chief ministers. More recently, Pawan Kalyan, who leads the Janasena Party, secured the deputy chief ministership of Andhra Pradesh through an alliance with the TDP and BJP.
Tamil Nadu’s record is mixed. Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) failed to secure meaningful votes, while actor Vijayakanth’s Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) once formed the Opposition before fading away.
Chiranjeevi, R Sarathkumar, Seeman, Upendra, and Devan too have entered politics in southern states though with limited impact. Rajinikanth’s highly anticipated Rajini Makkal Mandram dissolved in 2021 over health concerns, and Haasan’s MNM managed only 2.8 per cent of the vote in the 2021 Assembly polls.
In the North, several movie stars, including Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha, have tried their luck in politics, but none floated a party. The only exception was Dev Anand, who reportedly floated the National Party of India (NPI) in 1977.
“In politics, stars like Vijay often falter because they lack a clear written ideology. Surrounded by boxers, he is not directly accessible to the masses —and that approach will not work,” said Tamil writer and activist Maalan Narayanan. “He was seen as an alternative to the two majors (DMK and AIADMK), drawing in young people and women,” he added.
Political analyst Venkatesh Ramaiah agreed the TVK mishandled the tragedy. “If he wants to be an MGR, he must walk among the people. Rally-goers are his fans, not party supporters,” he said. Vijay’s experience in politics remains limited.
In 2021, he first tested electoral waters when his fan club, the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI), contested rural local body elections, winning 68 per cent of the seats it fought (115 out of 169). Beyond that, his political strength is largely untested, with observers suggesting a potential vote share of 6-7 per cent, mainly cutting into anti-DMK votes.
MGR, whose path Vijay appears to model, had a long record in the Dravidian movement before founding the AIADMK, while M Karunanidhi was deeply rooted in politics even before his cinematic career. Narayanan noted that MGR also built alliances with anti-DMK forces such as the Congress and Communists.
“In films the hero may defeat 100 men alone,” he said, “but in politics that is not possible.”
