It was dramatic. When M.R. Radha, a villain of Tamizh films, shot hero MGR at close range, it impacted the Madras State Assembly elections of 1967. The bullet went through his neck, lodged itself in his vertebra and led to a permanent change in MGR’s voice. But the Makkal Thilagam (People’s King) more than survived the injury. A hysterical fan base not only accepted his voice change for the next 11 years of his acting career, but the injury also helped MGR’s DMK party ride a sympathy wave. The DMK, then led by MGR’s leader C.N. Annadurai, unseated the well-ensconced Congress and flagged off a new Dravidian rule. In the next 59 years, Madras State became Tamil Nadu, MGR formed the breakaway AIADMK and made it to the CM’s chair, but Dravidian politics continued unvanquished.

Until Thalapathy Vijay came along. Thalapathy means leader or commander.

It is interesting how Tamil Nadu christens its superstars. In 1991, Rajinikanth released the blockbuster Thalapathi. When Vijay made his debut in 1992, his director-father S.A. Chandrasekhar nicknamed him Ilaya Thalapathy, positioning him as a successor to superstar Rajinikanth. Ilaya means young. Vijay’s evolution was clairvoyantly chalked. Two decades later, when a big film titled Mersal came along, Ilaya was dropped and Vijay became Thalapathy, reflecting his elevated status as a superstar.

As Vijay strides from the screen to the highest office at Fort St George, credit his positioning to his astute father. Vijay is indeed the Thalapathy who led his newly formed Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to an unpredicted victory.

Psephologists and stalwarts of TN politics must have felt sheepish on May 4 when their patronising pre-poll utterances on Vijay fell by the booth-side. But honestly, how could they not have factored into their wisdom the servile fandom that exists in TN? This is the state where fans wake up at 4am to perform abhishekam (ceremonial bathing of a deity) on Rajinikanth’s cutouts on release day. This is the state where crazy fans tattooed on their foreheads Jayalalithaa’s name or picture. TN is where grief-stricken fans self-immolated when MGR died. TN is the place that inspired R.K. Laxman’s famous cartoon where a pilot in mid-air is shocked not by a bird hit but by Amma’s sky-high cutout popping up outside the cockpit. This is where 41 people died in a stampede just to catch a glimpse of Vijay during his political campaign in September 2025.

Perhaps the failure of Kamal Haasan, who had also positioned his Makkal Needhi Maiam as an alternative to Dravidian parties, made forecasters amnesic about how seriously the public takes an actor. Kamal’s submission to the ruling DMK and his DMK-sponsored entry into the Rajya Sabha must have led to political analysts pooh-poohing the charisma of a film star. Kamal was never a superstar but Ulaganayagan, a world-class actor. Not a star who sweeps the box office or the hustings off its feet.

Even Vijayakanth, iconic in his time and likened to MGR for his humanitarian work, had fared better than Kamal. Captain, as Vijayakanth was nicknamed, founded Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in 2005, became an elected MLA twice and served as leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Interestingly, his wife Premalatha, who continues to be in the DMDK, defeated Vijay’s candidate in the recent elections and is a newly elected MLA.

In the past, thespians like Sivaji Ganesan had also dabbled in politics, swinging from the DMK to the Congress. Without a firm ideological mooring, Sivaji had made no ripples in politics. But, unlike Sivaji or Kamal, Vijay took a huge leap of faith and quit a thriving acting career to give attention to TVK. Even without a clear manifesto, that faith alone resonated.

As Tamil Nadu says today, “We wanted a change. We’ve got a change. But we don’t know what the change is.”

That’s what blind faith is all about.

Bharathi S. Pradhan is a senior journalist and an author