By now, Kollywood's connection to Tamil Nadu politics is widely known. In the yesteryears, celluloid hero MG Ramachandran, script writer M Karunanidhi and actress J Jayalalithaa went on to become Chief Ministers.
The younger generation appears to be in no way different. Where superstars Rajinikanth dithered and Kamal Haasan failed, Ilayathalapathi, Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar aka Vijay had the will to take the plunge in politics.
Vijay's TVK or Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam will make its poll debut in the Assembly polls scheduled for next year. The political outfit was formed on February 2, 2024.
The ruling DMK led by Chief Minister MK Stalin witnessed the elevation of Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin to the post of Deputy Chief Minister during the last week of September 2024.
These two young leaders' movies gets released during Pongal (January) 2026.
In short, Vijay's Jana Nayagan and Sivakarthikeyan's Parasakthi will battle it out for supremacy ahead of the polls.
Jana Nayagan is stated to be Vijay's last movie as he has announced his exit from movies following the launch of his political party early last year.
Interestingly, the distribution rights of Parasakthi is with the Red Giant Movies headed by Udhayanidhi Stalin.
Parasakthi has been described as "political drama film" based on true events, the story revolves around the Anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu that happened in 1965. The plot has relevance to the present day politics where the ruling DMK is opposing the three-language policy of the Centre.
The 1952 movie Parasakthi starring late actor Sivaji Ganesan with dialogues written by Udhayanidhi's grandfather M Karunanidhi is considered as one of the landmark movie in Kollywood.
In politics, Vijay, who has a fan base among the working class and the younger generation, has not hesitated to slam the DMK government on issues such as the Parandur airport project and Vengaivayal caste discrimination case where human faeces were found mixed in the drinking water used by the Dalit families. The CB CID police of the state has named three Dalit youths as accused triggering outrage among the Dalit activists.
Vijay is expected to give a tough fight to the DMK even as the AIADMK led by Edappadi K Palaniswamy is dilly dallying with the idea of having a tie-up with the BJP.
As for Udhayanidhi, he is gradually maturing as a politician under the shadow of his father.
For Tamil Nadu, 2026 would dawn with sparks flying on the celluloid followed by the political slugfest by way of Assembly polls.