Actor Vijay’s function on Sunday turned out to be show of strength with a massive turnout easily matching any leading politician of the day.
Actor Vijay’s fans arranged their leader’s visit to Rockfort in a grand and pompous manner. The actor, nicknamed ‘Ilaya Thalapathi’ (Young general) conducted the marriage of 15 poor couples. However, he was not able to address the function due to the boisterous fans who were howling and hotting at the sight of their icon.
Vijay, considered to have more number of fan clubs than any other Tamil star except for Rajinikanth, arrived around 10.45 am escorted by his security men in a tempo traveller about a kilometre way from the function venue and waved to the fans who were waiting for a glance of their hero from 8.30 am. As soon as he reached the venue of mass wedding organised by Tiruchy district by the Ilaya Thalapathi Vijay Narpani Iyakkam, the crowd of youth went rupturous with noisy whistles and thunderous claps.
He then walked on to the middle of the meeting venue and accepted the greetings of his fans.
At around 11 am, the actor handed over the garlands to each couple who were asked to wait from 8.30 am and gave the mangalsutra to them. Each groom tied the knot to his bride at the same time amidst the mangala isai and the whistles of fans.
Within a few minutes, he distributed 51 gifts including, almirah and utensils to the couples in the presence of their parents.
The functionaries asked a selected group of fans to interact with him for a few minutes. Only three questions were allowed for each fan. He denied that he was arranging mass weddings and other activities with an eye to enter politics.