Actor and founder of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), Vijayakanth, fondly called as ‘Captain’, breathed his last at a private hospital in Chennai on Thursday. He died after a prolonged illness at the age of 71.
During the first medical bulletin issued by the MIOT International Hospital early on Thursday, it was mentioned that he tested positive for Covid-19 and is on ventilator support. However, in the second bulletin, the hospital confirmed Vijayakanth’s death.
Earlier, Vijayakanth was admitted to a private hospital in November, but was eventually discharged after around three weeks of hospitalisation.
On December 14, the actor-turned-politician even made his first public appearance post-discharge. He participated in DMDK’s executive and general council meeting, during which his wife Premalatha Vijayakanth was announced as the party’s new general secretary.
Prior to his political career, he was a renowned actor, who gave an adrenaline rush to his fans, thanks to his powerful action sequences and fiery dialogues. Born as Vijayaraj on August 25, 1952 in Madurai, he made his debut in the film industry with ‘Iniikum Ilamai’ in 1979. His other well-known films include ‘Senthoora Poove’, ‘Pulan Visaranai, Chatriyan’, ‘Captain Prabhakaran’, ‘Chinna Gounder’, ‘Sethupathi IPS’, ‘Honest Raj’, ‘Vanathai Pola’, and ‘Ramana’, among others. At a time, he also headed the actors’ body called Nadigar Sangam.
In 2005, he made his foray into politics by floating his political party and even emerged as a winner from the Virudhachalam constituency in the Tamil Nadu Assembly polls held the next year.
Albeit, he finally turned the tables in the 2011 Assembly polls when he joined hands with AIADMK. His party then bagged 29 seats, pushing the DMK to a distant third.His party also became the state’s main Opposition. Nonetheless, after witnessing several defeats in the following elections, he began to lose out on vote share. In fact, Vijayakanth’s health also sustained a setback to his party as he refrained from attending public gatherings.
