Tamil actor Vijay has launched a political party yesterday. He said he wants to work for the upliftment of the people and intends to contest 2026 assembly election. He is not the first actor who has joined politics and launched a political party. There are several examples in Tamil politics where actors plunged into politics and formed political parties. It is not at all uncommon in Tamil Nadu of actors joining politics. Following this tradition, Vijay launched a political Party yesterday.
South India has a unique political culture where cinema has a profound impact on politics. Among these southern states, Tamil Nadu has a consistent history of actors joining politics and forming their own political party. Such is the impact of cinema in Tamil Nadu that one of the main stream political party, AIDMK was founded by an actor.
Even the DMK which was founded by a seasoned politician Annadurai in 1949 has as a history of having actors among the tallest ranks of its leaders. MGR who founded AIDMK later was an important figure in DMK earlier.
Since the days of Dravidian movement, cinema has been used one of the important instruments to bring social change and mobilize people. Movies like Parasakthi (1952),Thiruvilayadal (1965) and many others are considered landmark films in Tamil cinema for addressing social issues like caste discrimination, social inequality, and struggle faced by lower caste people. These movies with their content have an alignment with the principles of Dravidian movement. Even today Dravidian moment is very influential in shaping the content of popular cinema in Tamil Nadu. That is the reason politics and cinema in the state has a blurred line. The actors even in their real life do not shy away to speak on social and political issues of the day.
Despite this deep relationship between cinema and politics in Tamil Nadu, only a few actors have achieved phenomenal success in politics. Probably MG Ramchandran and Jayalalitha are the only who top in this list. Other actor politicians have not been as successful as the above two.
Lets have a look at actors who formed their own political party in Tamil Nadu.
MG Ramachandran
The most successful and charismatic actor turned politician in Tamil Nadu was MG Ramachandran. He successfully transitioned himself from being one of the biggest stars in Tamil cinema to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu. He founded All India Anna Dravida Munnetra kazhagam(AIDMK) in 1972 by splitting from the DMK. He became the chief minister of Tamil Nadu in 1977 and remained so until his death in 1987. After his death Jayalalitha, another important actress in Tamil cinema took over the party and ruled with iron hand. He was awarded Bharat Ratna in 1988 post houmous. He used stories from the movies to spread and propagate the ideology of his party.
Sivaji Ganesan
He was a legendary actor and rival of MGR. He founded his party in 1988 Tamil Nadu Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani.It was short lived.
Vijayakant
If anyone among the actors who was closer to have success like MG Ramachandran, it is Vijayakanth who floated his own party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhgham (DMDM) in 2005. It became the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu legislative assembly from 2011 to 2016. Later the lost its political relevance and the vote share severely dwindled.
R Sarath Kumar
Before forming his political party, Sarath Kumar had joined both DMK and AIDMK. He formed all India Samathuva Makkal Katchi in 2007.The party won two seats in 2011 assembly elections.
Rajinikanth
Rajnikant is considered as the biggest megastar of Tamil cinema. He joined politics in 2017 and launched a political party Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM). In 2021 he dissolved the party citing health reasons.
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Kamal Hasan
He is widely regarded as one of the best actors in Indian cinema industry. He also founded his own party Makkal Nidhi Maiam (MNM) in 2018. The party could not win a single seat either in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the 2021 assembly elections.
Despite his popularity as a film star, he was not able to turn this into votes like MG Ramachandran and Jayalalitha.
Vijay
Now, another Tamil movie star, Vijay has floated Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagan and aims to contest 2026 assembly elections. Will he be successful in his new political project? It is the future that holds this secret.
