After long anticipation, another Tamil film star has turned to politics as his future career. This time it is Joseph Vijay, one of the biggest stars of Kollywood (Tamil Cinema) who has decided to quit his film career to pursue his political ambitions. In February 2024, Vijay announced his retirement from films and his entry into politics with the launch of his left leaning Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party. The 50 year old actor is one of the highest paid actors in the country and now joins a long list of actors turned politician in the state.
Tamil Nadu has a deep seated love for its actors, bordering on obsession and leading upto even dedicated worship. The film celebrities are treated as demi gods, with their fans acting as their ‘armies’. Massive fan clubs consisting of common people spend hours of their time propagating and backing their favourite film stars.
Joseph Vijay too enjoys such a dedicated fan base and it seems like many before him he has now decided to cash in on his fame, to gain administrative power. This waylaid path has been followed by many successful actors in the state before him. Although not every one of them was able to convert their celeb fame into political power. Here are some of the most recognizable and powerful figures of Tamil cinema, who have enjoyed incredible stardom and have attempted to bridge the gap into active politics.
MG Ramachandran (MGR)
MGR is perhaps one of the pioneers of this move. More so because he was extremely successful in both fields. A famous film personality MGR enjoyed an illustrious film career having been presented with the prestigious National Film Award, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards as well as two Filmfare Award South.
Ramachandran entered politics with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK party) and rose through its ranks, using his popularity as a film star to build a political base. In 1972, he broke away to form his own political party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).
Five years later, Ramachandran steered an AIADMK-led alliance to victory in the 1977 election. He became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, marking the achievement as the first film actor to become a chief minister in India. Except for a four-month interregnum in 1980, when his government was overthrown by the Union government, he remained as chief minister till his death in 1987. He was also presented with the Bharat Ratna posthumously
J. Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa was considered one of the most prolific actress of her time. The star appeared in 140 films between 1961 and 1980, primarily in several languages, receiving high praise for her versatility as an actress and her dancing skills, earning her the title of the “Queen of Tamil Cinema”.
In 1982, she joined the AIADMK, the party of her former co star and the then Chief Minister of the state, M. G. Ramachandran. Her political rise was rapid; within a few years she became AIADMK propaganda secretary and was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India’s Parliament. After M.G.R.’s death in 1987, Jayalalithaa emerged as the sole leader of the AIADMK gaining control over the party. She became the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu a record five times.
M. Karunanidhi
One of the most well known faces of Tamil politics, it is a lesser known fact that the five time Chief Minister had began his career as a writer eventually venturing into Tamil cinema. As a writer Karunanidhi, wrote screenplays, historical novels, biographies and poems. In Tamil cinema he wrote the script and dialogue for M. G. Ramachandran’s maiden film as a hero, Rajakumari. He also composed the dialogue for Sivaji Ganesan’s debut film, Parasakthi.
After joining the DMK, Karunanidhi had a meteoric rise, eventually serving as the longest intermittent sitting Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu with 6,863 days in office. An atheist, his divisive politics were aimed at segregating the Tamil identity from the rest of India. Karunanidhi also holds the record of never losing an election in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won 13 times since his first victory in 1957.
Rajnikanth
Rajinikanth is one of the most known film stars of the country, the celebrated actor has a huge global fan base. The veteran is easily one of the most widely recognized Indian actors in the world. His stardom in Tamil Nadu borders on complete reverence. Rajnikanth is a stalwart of Tamil cinema, in a career spanning five decades, he has done 170 films in a number of languages.
The star has been honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Bhushan in 2000, Padma Vibhushan in 2016, India’s third and second highest civilian honours, and the highest award in the field of cinema Dadasaheb Phalke Award in the 67th National Film Awards ceremony (2019) for his contributions to Indian cinema. He has won many film awards including seven Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, a Nandi Award and one Filmfare Award.
Over the years the star had considered entering politics many times, he finally announced his entry into politics on 31 December 2017 and confirmed his intention to contest in the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly elections in all 234 constituencies. However in an anti climatic move, Rajinikanth dissolved his organisation Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) on 12 July 2021 and announced that he has no plans to enter politics in the future.
Khushbu Sundar
Khushbu Sundar is another famous film star turned politician. Born in a muslim family as Nakhat Khan, the actress adopted the stage name of Khushbu. The star is known for her extensive work in Tamil cinema appearing in over 185 films. She has won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, two Cinema Express Awards, a Kalaimamani Award and a Kerala State Film Award.
Famed for her beauty, the actress, though from a Muslim background, is a self professed atheist. Khushbu enjoyed such immense fame that there have been food dishes, sarees, coffees and cocktails in her name. Her fans even built a dedicated temple for the actress, making her the first Indian female star to be venerated in such a fashion.
Khushbu has had a long political career, joining the DMK first in 2010, then the Congress in 2014. She quit the Congress in 2020 claiming the party had no freedom and did not provide any space for “intelligent women”. She subsequently joined the BJP and currently serves as a National Executive Committee member for the same.
Kamal Hassan
Kamal Haasan, is easily one of the most recognizable faces of Indian cinema. The Tamil star is an actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, choreographer, playback singer, lyricist, television presenter. Besides Tamil films, he has appeared in films from almost every industry in the country.
Considered as one of the finest actors in Indian cinema, Haasan is also known for introducing many new film technologies and film making techniques to the Indian film industry. He has won numerous accolades, including four National Film Awards, nine Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, four Nandi Awards, one Rashtrapati Award, two Filmfare Awards and eighteen Filmfare Awards South. He was awarded the Kalaimamani Award in 1984, the Padma Shri in 1990, the Padma Bhushan.
With his left leaning political views the film star formed the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) party, a regional political party in Tamil Nadu. He formally announced the party’s formation on 21 February 2018 in Madurai. He unsuccessfully contested the 2021 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election from Coimbatore South but lost to the local BJP candidate.
Udhayanidhi Stalin
Udhayanidhi Stalin is the current Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu since 2024, serving under Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M K Stalin. He is the youngest person in the state to have ever held the position. He has also been the Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development in Tamil Nadu since December 2022.
Udhayanidhi is the son of M K Stalin and the grandson of M. Karunanidhi. Before his foray into politics Udhayanidhi was a producer and a film distributor, eventually making his debut as male lead in 2012. He won the Filmfare award for his debut and has continued doing films until 2023.
Vijayakanth
Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, film director, film producer, philanthropist and politician. He primarily worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He eventually ventured into politics in the latter part of his career founding his own party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK).
Appearing in over 150 films, the star won two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and was awarded the Kalaimamani title in 2001. Vijayakanth was regularly likened to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran for his humanitarian work and for his role in supporting impoverished personnel from the Tamil film industry.
After founding his own party in 2005, he served as a Member of Legislative Assembly for two terms from 2006 to 2016. He led his party to win the second-most seats in the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election and served as the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. He remained as the leader of his party until his death in 2023. In January 2024, he was posthumously awarded the Padma Bhushan, by the Government of India.