Captain Vijayakanth Passes Away, News Live Updates: Tamil-actor lawmaker Vijayakanth passed away on Thursday in Chennai. He was 71. The star tested positive for Covid-19 and was on ventilator support. An official bulletin said that the star was admitted due to pneumonia and could not be saved despite the best efforts of the medical team. Fondly known as ‘Captain’, vijayakanth was admitted to the hospital in November for respiratory problems but was discharged a few weeks later. He made his last public showing on December 14.
Biography of Tamil Nadu Politician and Former Actor Vijayakanth
His life in films and becoming ‘Captain’
Vijayakanth began his playing journey with “Inikkum Ilamai” in 1979. His unassuming looks and powerful screen personality quickly made him a popular figure among the audience. His first major break happened with Sattam Oru Iruttarai in 1981, directed by Vijay’s father SA Chandrasekhar. He then worked with SAC for many ventures like Nenjile Thunivirunthal, Needhi Pizhaithathu, and Pattanathu Rajakkal, which made him a bankable newcomer.
In the ’90s, there was an obvious shift in the kind of films Vijayakanth made. He increasingly started playing the part of a police officer starting from Pulan Visaranai. After Chatriyan (1990), another feather in his cap, came Captain Prabhakaran (1991), which pushed his stature to superstardom. The name Captain from the film stuck with him for life. Sethupathi IPS (1994), Maanagara Kaaval (1991), Rajadurai (1993), Thai Mozhi (1993), and Honest Raj (1994) are some of the other important police films in his career.
Political journey
After joining politics, the DMDK contested all 234 constituencies during the 2006 Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections. Even though Vijayakanth emerged as the sole victor for his party, the DMDK won a noteworthy 8% vote share.
From an impressive showing in the Assembly polls, the vote share of DMDK further increased to 10.3% in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
With a 7.9% vote share DMDK secured the place of the second-largest party in the 2011 Assembly elections.
However, a subsequent downturn became clear as the DMDK’s influence waned, garnering only 5.1% of votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and a mere 2.4% in the 2016 Assembly elections, resulting in no seats as part of a coalition comprising Left and Dalit parties.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls when the DMDK fought four seats as part of the AIADMK-NDA alliance and faced defeat in all constituencies.
As Vijayakanth stayed the face of the party throughout, he encountered health issues that significantly impacted the DMDK’s trajectory.
Over the past couple of years, his inability to fully engage in rallies was noticeable. While he remained a presence at party gatherings, the reins were taken by his wife Premalatha and her brother L K Sudheesh, leading meetings in his absence.
