- Vijay's first major open public rally post the Karur incident is taking place in Erode today.
- The second single from Vijay's last film Jana Nayagan, set for release on January 9, is dropping this evening
- Jana Nayagan film crafted to bridge Vijay's star image and political ambitions
Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijay's first major open public rally post the Karur incident is taking place in Erode today. While a crowd of 25,000 people is at the venue near the Vijayamangalam toll plaza for the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally, another exciting event is taking place online at 6:30 pm.
The second single from Vijay's last film Jana Nayagan (People's Leader), a political drama which is set for release on January 9, is dropping this evening much to the delight of his fans. All in all, December 18 is a day that Thalapathy Vijay's fans are celebrating with much fanfare.
The Jana Nayagan Factor
To those who have known Thalapathy Vijay over decades, his political ambitions have always been evident and it was just a question of when he would form his political party and contest the elections in Tamil Nadu. Keeping the 2026 Tamil Nadu elections in sight, Vijay announced the launch of his political party - Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) - in February 2024 and by the end of the year his fans and the audience knew that director H Vinoth's Jana Nayagan would be the Tamil star's last film before he got into politics full-time.
Jana Nayagan, however, is not merely his last film, it is crucial to Vijay's political career. What is significant is that everything about Jana Nayagan - right from the title to the story by H Vinoth and the songs by music director Anirudh Ravichander - have been crafted carefully to build a seamless bridge between Vijay's cinema persona and fame, and his political ambitions. The film's thematic positioning seems to indicate a focus on governance, accountability, and moral authority rather than just flamboyant heroism.
The movie mirrors what Vijay needs politically at this point - credibility, seriousness, and restraint, without alienating his fan base. The Master star has projected himself as the leader of the people of Tamil Nadu in his public rallies who was in politics to serve and fight for the welfare of the people. He framed himself as a voice for overlooked groups and has been attempting to create a transformational, people-centred leadership image.
By announcing Jana Nayagan as his 'last film', the strategy has been to create a soft pivot from cinema to politics and consolidate Thalapathy's star image into a real-life political persona - a righteous, incorruptible leader who stands against injustice.
This strategy of 'last film' also plays emotionally on the crores of young fans he has across Tamil Nadu and TVK's expectation is that this fan loyalty would transfer into political capital i.e. fans would become political cadres and thus, votes in the 2026 elections. Political analyst Pa Ki (Parthasarathy Krishnan) tells NDTV he is not sure how far Vijay will be successful in turning these emotionally-invested fans into political cadres. "There will be huge crowds at his rallies and he is clearly looking at converting his fans into TVK political cadres. I don't know how far he will be successful in that attempt. My apprehension is that all fans cannot become political cadres," he adds.
Meanwhile, political analyst Madhavan Narayanan tells NDTV that Vijay is not betting on the 2026 elections alone with this plan of action. He says, "Jana Nayagan is unlikely on its own to get votes for Vijay but if he manages to pull the heart strings of people on key issues like corruption or dynastic rule he may get some brownie points. But I don't think he is quite the same after the Karur stampede that bruised his image. It is too much of a long shot to expect him to take on a BJP-backed alliance and the DMK at once. My take is that he is jockeying for a position in the future with this strategy."
Oru Pere Varalaaru (A name that makes history)
When Vijay made his first on screen appearance at the age of 10 in the Tamil film Vetri, little did anyone know that he would emerge as one of the biggest stars of Tamil cinema by the age of 40. Today, he has directors and music directors writing scripts and songs specifically for him to uphold his on-screen image as the saviour of the people and with Jana Nayagan this assumes more significance.
While the first vibrant single from Jana Nayagan 'Thalapathy Kacheri' celebrated the happiness that Vijay has brought to fans over the years and features his iconic dance steps from his films, the second song 'Oru Pere Varalaaru' talks about how man's name makes history. The lyrics of this second single, to be released on December 18 evening, read 'one name will make history; you can't erase it even if you try; people's leader; there can be no change without the voice of the people; thalapathy'.
At every single public rally which has seen unprecedented crowds, Vijay has invoked the name of Tamil actor and political great, M G Ramachandran, admiring the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's iconic leadership qualities. While talking about his leadership qualities, the Jana Nayagan star tries to indirectly link them to MGR. And Oru Pere Varalaaru clearly hints at Vijay's ambition of going down in history as another great name like Puratchi Thalaivar MGR (revolutionary leader MGR). So, will invoking MGR work for him at the polls?
"Which politician in Tamil Nadu has not evoked MGR? Nobody can ignore MGR in Tamil Nadu politics. Even 38 years after his demise, he is admired by the people here. There can be only one MGR and he has travelled in both politics and films simultaneously. Vijay nor any other actor-turned-politician has not done it except MGR. Vijay is an untested political leader and until he faces an election numerous times, he cannot prove his cadres vote bank or cadres strength," emphasises Pa Ki.
Adds Madhavan Narayanan, "MGR made a big impact by playing roles of working-class heroes like a cow herd, a rickshaw puller and a boatman. Vijay is not quite there but he has played the swashbuckling hero on the screen and done numerous roles to project himself as people's leader. Jana Nayagan seems to be in the same mould from current indications. I would expect punch dialogues loaded with barbs at the DMK to buttress his rally speeches."
But it is Pa Ki who has the last word when he says, "A large crowd at a political rally cannot bring in votes. A veteran political leader like Dr Kalaignar Karunanidhi himself once stated that 'we can mobilise large crowds but not votes'. So, we have to wait and watch as far as Vijay goes."
