Vijayakanth was born on 25th August 1952 in Madurai. His real name was Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami. He was the founder and president of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam(DMDK) political party. His father is K. N. Alagarswami and Aandal Azhagarswami. He married Premalatha on 31 January and has two sons. He is a great actor who acted only in Tamil films throughout his career. Vijyakanth won the title “Puratchi Kalingar” (revolutionary artist) in the film industry. He acted as a police officer in more than 20 films. Most of his films are about Corruption, honesty, and keeping up promises.
His first film was directed by M. A. Kaja titled “Innikum Ilamai” in 1979. This was his debut film and he played as a villain in this film. And then he did a movie “Sattam Oru Iruttarai” in 1981 in Tamil which was directed by S.A. Chandrasekar from a story by his wife Shoba. Then he did continuous movies with a consistent box office appeal. On his 100th film “Captain Prabhakaran, he got the name “Captain”. He did many super hit films like Nooravadhu Naal in 1984, and Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal in 1984. In the lead role, his 18 films were released in the year 1984. In 1985, he acted in Annai Bhoomi 3D, the first 3D film in the Tamil industry. In 1985, he did Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri which gained huge success for him.
He became an excellent competitor for Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. In 1987, he acted with Sivaji Ganesan in Veerapandiyan. After that, he did continuous hit movies like Cooliekkaran, Veeran Veluthambi, Sattam Oru Vilayaattu, Ninaivey Oru Sangeetham, Senthoora Poove. For Senthoora Poove, he won Tamilnadu State Film Award for Best Actor. Following his continuous success from 1990 to 1999, he did many action films including Pulan Visaranai Which was directed by R. K. Selvamani, and his other film Sathriyan directed by Mani Ratnam which is all about an honest Cop and a Corrupt Politician. After MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, and Jayalalitha, he is the only actor to hit Silver Jubilee in his 100th film.
In 1992, he worked in Chinna Gounder, it was entirely different from his earlier films. It ranked third in the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film. In Senthoorapandi, he costraeed with Vijay. In the 2000s he did Vaanathai Pola which was a blockbuster film directed by Vikraman. It won two awards Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film of the Year and the National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. After that, he did many films up to 2015.
Political Career
On 14 December 2005, he announced the party’s formation named “Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam in Madurai. In the 2006 Tamil Nadu election, the DMDK, led by Vijaykanth, played a crucial role by getting 10% of the votes. In the Lok Sabha election, they secured 10.1%. A study revealed that in around 25 constituencies, the DMDK got more votes than the winning candidates’ margins. In 2006, the DMDK received more votes from DMK supporters than AIADMK supporters. However, in the latest election, they attracted more Congress voters compared to 2004. Despite some blaming DMDK for AIADMK’s loss, there was no evidence supporting this claim.
Vijayakanth stated that he wouldn’t seek donations for his party, and he mostly funds it from his pocket. He has consistently declined alliances with other political parties. In a by-election for Madurai Central assembly constituency, DMDK secured around 17,000 votes, only 2,000 votes less than AIADMK. Additionally, DMDK won a significant number of seats in the Local Body elections.
In the 2011 election on April 13, 2011, Vijayakanth joined forces with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and competed in 41 areas. His party did well, winning 29 out of the 41 seats it contested. Notably, the DMDK won more seats than the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Vijayakanth became a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the second time by winning in the Rishivandhiyam constituency. Cho Ramaswamy encouraged the DMDK to ally with the AIADMK. The DMDK actively campaigned to defeat the DMK and called for all parties to unite against the ruling DMK in a conference held in Salem on January 8, led by Vijayakanth.
After the election, there were disagreements between Jayalalithaa and Vijayakanth in the assembly, leading to a rift between their two parties. As a result, Vijayakanth parted ways with the AIADMK. In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the DMDK allied with the BJP, forming a non-DMK and non-AIADMK alliance with parties like MDMK, PMK, IJK, and others. Prime Minister Modi mentioned Vijayakanth as his friend in the NDA leaders’ meeting. However, Vijayakanth lost his position as the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly as eight of his MLAs resigned and handed over their resignations to the Speaker.
In the 2016 election, he didn’t do well. He was trying to win from the Ulundurpettai constituency in Tamil Nadu’s Vilupuram district, where he had been a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) twice before in 2006 and 2011. Unfortunately, this time, he only got 34,447 votes and ended up in third place.
The party had earlier shared that he had tested positive for Covid-19. The hospital in Chennai, MIOT International, stated in a press release that Captain Vijayakanth was on ventilatory support due to pneumonia. Despite the medical team’s best efforts, he passed away on the morning of December 28, 2023.
Also Read: DMDK Founder Vijayakanth Death: What Happened In The Hospital?
