Actor-Politician and DMDK founder Captain Vijayakanth passed away in Chennai after testing positive for Covid-19. The news of Vijayakanth's death has sent shockwaves not only in Tamil Nadu but across the country. Some days back Captain was admitted to the hospital due to health issues. He was recently discharged from the hospital but was again admitted to the hospital due to Corona infection. Vijayakanth died at Chennai's MIOT International Hospital in Chennai. Vijayakanth will be laid to rest with state honours while his mortal remains will be taken to DMDK office.
Captain balanced politics with films
Vijayakanth is a well-known actor in the Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi film industries. In the eighties, he had a superstar-level image. Vijayakanth, who is known for his action films, had also made a name in politics. He was always close to his fans while balancing films and politics.
Recognized as a Captain with police roles
Vijayakanth was born on 25 August 1952 in Madurai. He entered the industry as an actor with the film 'Inikkum Ilamai' and entertained fans for two decades. As a hero of number of action oriented films, he had made his mark in the film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films. Vijayakanth also played police roles in more than 20 movies. Vijayakanth had a few failures at the beginning of his career. He was successful as a Hero with the movies directed by SA Chandrasekhar. 'Durathu Idi Mujakkam' and 'Sattam Oru Iruttirai' movies were hits. After the success of film 'Captain Prabhakar', everyone started referring to him as ‘Captain’. Vijayakanth's films have been dubbed in several Indian languages.
Vijayakanth has acted in more than 150 films and won many awards. In 1981, his film ‘Thoorathu Idimuzhakkam’ was selected for the World Film Festival Award. He won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for ‘Amman Koil Kizhakkale’ in 1986. He won the Indian Express Award for Best Actor for the film ‘Poonthotta Kavalakaran’ in 1989. He also won the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for the same film. He received the prestigious ‘Kalaimamani Award' from the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2001.
DMDK was founded in 2005
Captain Vijayakanth entered politics to serve the people. He founded the DMDK in 2005. Though the DMDK (Desiya Marpokku Dravida Kazhagam) party created a sensation, he did not succeed in politics as expected. He was elected as an MLA for the first time from Virudhachalam constituency in the 2006 assembly elections. Despite fielding 234 candidates, none of them won. In 2009, the DMDK contested 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry.
Vijaykanth's party was joined with AIADMK (Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) alliance in 2011. Fortunately, DMDK won 29 seats in the Assembly elections. Captain remained Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly for five years. Since then, the party has not won a single seat in the 2016 Assembly elections, 2019 Parliament and 2021 Assembly elections.
The two parties had parted ways in 2016 following differences between Vijayakanth and AIADMK leaders. Later, he held discussions with BJP leaders for alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi once described him as a good friend. However, due to internal politics in DMDK, Vijayakanth's political career faced many ups and downs.
