The blurred line between an actor and a politician

In April this year, Vijay proposed a 99-year lease of the island ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka.  He even went to the extent of blaming the ruling DMK and the BJP-led Centre for failing to reclaim Katchatheevu Island

Actor-turned-politician Joseph Vijay Chandrasekar, popularly known as Vijay, made his signature ramp walk through a sea of supporters during his party’s second state conference held in Madurai recently. The conference was held to project Vijay as the party’s chief ministerial candidate at the 2026 Assembly Elections, signalling his decisive political pitch.

Vijay made his entry into politics in February 2024 with the launch of his party Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). He joins the long list of actors who have joined politics in Tamil Nadu starting from M. G. Ramachandran, J. Jayalalitha, Sivaji Ganesan, Vijayakanth and Kamal Haasan. In his debut speech, Vijay said that the political objective of his party was to ensure that everyone had a house to live, had food for the stomach and a source of stable income.

 This is quite a ‘normal’ objective given the fact that every politician’s first and foremost reason to join politics is to ‘serve the people’. Vijay’s popularity and rise to fame as ‘Thalapathy’ (commander or leader) in the Tamil film industry has justified his box office prowess, especially over the past decade. His films have not only captivated mass audiences but had set new benchmarks in the industry. But Sri Lankans have expressed mixed reactions towards this Kollywood star, especially after he said that Sri Lanka would be wiped off the world map if the Sri Lanka Navy attacked any more Indian fishermen. He made these remarks while attending a protest in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu back in 2011. 

This kind of an arrogance may not look good on an actor who is still a heartthrob amongst audiences worldwide. This time, Vijay’s opening remarks indicated the behaviour of a lion. “A lion knows how to live in a crowd and also knows how to live alone. It remains unique. A lion comes out only to hunt, not for entertainment. It always hunts only living prey,” he said. But there’s much more to politics than delivering statements that look like mere film dialogues. Perhaps, sooner or later, the popular actor would realise this fact. 

Apart from all his other demands, what is quite concerning for Sri Lanka are his remarks on Katchatheevu Island. Vijay alleged that nearly 800 Tamil Nadu fishermen had been attacked by the Sri Lanka Navy in recent years and thereby urged PM Modi to ensure the safety of TN fishermen by retrieving Katchatheevu and giving it back to them. 

His speech however, drew criticisms from several political opponents representing parties such as DMK and BJP. According to Indian media sources, K Annamalai, a former BJP state President had questioned Vijay’s credibility, arguing that popularity alone wouldn’t translate into electoral success. Annamalai had further said that Vijay has to work very hard if his fan base should turn into votes while hinting at the actor’s role of a fisherman in the S. P. Rajkumar film Sura (2010) and questioning whether he had ever spoken about the Katchatheevu matter prior to his entry into politics. 

In April this year, Vijay proposed a 99-year lease of the island ahead of PM Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka.  He even went to the extent of blaming the ruling DMK and the BJP-led Centre for failing to reclaim Katchatheevu Island. 

While Indian experts justify the entry of Tamil Nadu fishermen into Sri Lankan waters due to a depletion of the fish population in the area, Sri Lankan fishermen blame Indian fishermen for engaging in harmful and unsustainable methods of obtaining a larger catch, such as bottom trawling and blast fishing. Indian fishermen are known to reach waters off Kalpitiya,  and local fishermen have expressed concerns over their advance into Sri Lankan territory as of late.   

Hence in this backdrop, what is best for new faces in politics such as actor Vijay is to identify their true cause in politics rather than stirring transboundary disputes further. Vijay needs to distinguish the blurred line between an actor and a politician because he is now dealing with actual lives of people as a politician, and  not as an imaginary character in a movie anymore!