Vijayakanth

Vijayakanth
Vijaykanth in 2015
16th Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office 27 May 2011 – 21 February 2016
Chief Minister	J. Jayalalithaa O. Panneerselvam
Preceded by	J. Jayalalithaa
Succeeded by	M. K. Stalin
Member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
In office 23 May 2011 – 21 May 2016
Preceded by	S. Sivaraj
Succeeded by	Vasantham K. Karthikeyan
Constituency	Rishivandiyam
In office 29 May 2006 – 14 May 2011
Chief Minister	M. Karunanidhi
Preceded by	R. Govindasamy
Succeeded by	V. Muthukumar
Constituency	Vriddhachalam
President of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
In office 14 September 2005 – 28 December 2023
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
General Secretary of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
In office 1 June 2014 – 14 December 2023
Preceded by	S. Ramu Vasanthan
Succeeded by	Premalatha
President of South Indian Artistes' Association
In office 2000–2006
Preceded by	Radha Ravi
Succeeded by	R. Sarathkumar
Personal details
Born	Vijayaraj Alagarswami (1952-08-25)25 August 1952 Madurai, Madras State, India
Died	28 December 2023(2023-12-28) (aged 71) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Resting place	Koyambedu, Chennai
Political party	Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam
Spouse	Premalatha Vijayakanth ​ ​ (m. 1990)​
Children	2
Occupation	actor director film producer philanthropist politician
Awards	Padma Bhushan (2024) (posthumous) Kalaimamani (2001)[1]
Nicknames	Captain Black M.G.R. Puratchi Kalaignar

Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name 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 ventured into politics in the later part of his career and founded his own party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.

Vijayakanth acted in over 150 films in his career. Some of his popular films include 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 was nicknamed "Captain" following his role in the film Captain Prabhakaran (1991). He was also credited as "Puratchi Kalaignar" (revolutionary artist) in the film titles as he often appeared in roles as a law enforcer, vigilante, or a village head. He won two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and was awarded the Kalaimamani title in 2001.

Vijayakanth served as the president of the Nadigar Sangam (actors association) from 2000 to 2006. He is credited with bringing the association out of debt and establishing a charitable trust that paid pension to low-income members of the film industry. He was 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. He accepted deferred remuneration for certain films to help struggling film producers and also preached for food equality on film sets, demanding that all the crew members must be given the same quality meals that he was served.

After founding his own party in 2005, he served as a Member of Legislative Assembly for two terms from 2006 to 2016, representing the constituencies of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively. 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. He was known for his "open and bold stance" during his political career. In January 2024, he was posthumously awarded India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, by the Government of India.