Shanmuga Pandian

Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor and politician who worked in Tamil cinema.

He acted in over 150 films in his career spanning four decades.

Vijayakanth was born as Vijayaraj Alagarswami in Madurai on 25 August 1952.

His parents were K. N. Alagarswami and Aandal Azhagarswami.

His father ran a rice mill at Keeraithurai.

His father was apparently worried about Vijayakanth as he showed less attention and less interest towards studies but was more interested in cinema.

Vijayakanth grew up idolising M. G. Ramachandran and he displayed his passion towards community and societal issues at a young age.

Vijayakanth then went to work in the rice mill owned by his father and surprised him with his administrative skills.

In 1978, Vijayakanth engaged in a photo shoot in Rasi Studios located at Madurai (now known as Rasi Digital Studios) with the aim of obtaining a film acting opportunity.

The photos which he took at Rasi Studios helped him to garner attention from film industry and it became a turning point in his career.

Vijayakanth gave credit and acknowledgment to the chief photographer of Rasi Studios, R. Asaithambi, in a few magazine interviews, indicating that the photographs taken by Asaithambi eventually helped him earn a spot in the film industry.

Vijayakanth was then cast in a supporting role as Rajnikanth's brother in En Kelvikku Enna Bathil (1978) by the director P. Madhavan; he received an advance of Indian Rupees 100 for the film.

However, Madhavan later replaced Vijayakanth with Ceylon Manohar for the role as Rajnikanth's brother after the director left unimpressed with Vijayakanth's screen presence.

He lost several film opportunities during the early stages of his acting career, as many other filmmakers shunned him, largely due to his dark skin colour.

He faced further humiliation when many lead actresses, including Raadhika Sarathkumar, Saritha, Ambika and Radha, refused to act with him due to his dark complexion during this initial phase of his career.

He changed his name to "Vijayakanth", dropping the "Raj" out of his name and adding the suffix "Kanth", when he made his first film appearance in M. A. Kaja's Inikkum Ilamai (1979).

That film was, however, both a critical and financial failure.

His subsequent films Agal Vilakku (1979), Neerottam (1980) and Saamanthippoo (1980) were also box-office flops.

He was well known for his performances in Vaidehi Kathirunthal (1984), Amman Kovil Kizhakale (1986), Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran (1988), Senthoora Poove (1988), Pulan Visaranai (1990), Chinna Gounder (1992), Honest Raj (1994), Thayagam (1996) and Vaanathaippola (2000).

He won two Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.

For his role in Senthoora Poove, Vijayakanth won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor in 1988.

He married Premalatha on 31 January 1990 and had two sons, including Shanmuga Pandian, an actor who starred in Sagaptham (2015) and Madura Veeran (2018).

Vijayakanth left Madurai to pursue his passion in acting, even though he did not have any cinematic background.

He was nicknamed "Captain" following his 100th film Captain Prabhakaran (1991) and for his transformative leadership as president of the Nadigar Sangam (2000–2006), which, under his presidency, arose from a heavily indebted organisation to a charitable trust that provided benefits and pension to low-income members.

Vijayakanth has been credited in films with the title "Puratchi Kalaignar" (revolutionary artist) for often appearing in roles as a law enforcer, vigilante, or village head.

He was also nicknamed as "Karuppu M. G. R."

in recognition for his humanitarian efforts towards impoverished families and supporting struggling actors in Tamil cinema.

Vijayakanth was known for his stance on food equality on film sets, demanding that low-wage cast and crew members must be given the same quality meals that he was served.

For a few films, he also accepted deferred remuneration to help struggling producers.

He was known for his "open and bold stance" during his political career.

In 1996, he was awarded the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for his role in Thayagam.

He was also the recipient of two Cinema Express Awards and one Filmfare Awards South.

Vijayakanth was one of very few Tamil lead actors to have acted only in Tamil films throughout his career.

His films have mostly been dubbed into Telugu and Hindi.

He earned several nicknames from fans and co-stars throughout his career.

He was awarded the Kalaimamani in 2001, the highest civilian award in Tamil Nadu.

After founding the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in 2005, he served as an MLA twice, representing the constituencies of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively from 2006 to 2016.

The DMDK saw early success as it won the second-most seats in the 2011 election and Vijayakanth became the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, serving until 2016.

He remained leader of the DMDK during his health decline and until his death in 2023.

In January 2024, he was posthumously awarded India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, by the Government of India.