CHENNAI: More than two decades ago, there I was, a film journalist, very reluctantly attending an event where he was celebrating Pongal with fans. It was held at an open ground, with a number of women preparing pongal.
It was very much like a film set. But the main attraction, a professional actor no less, was not role-playing; he brought a genuine warmth in his interactions with all. He was not angling for much publicity for the event. But he requested me to write on leukaemia and other medical issues affecting the young. “I saw my own sister suffer,” he said.
That episode in 2005 told me a lot about the man – the one I knew as Vijay or ‘Thalapathy' Vijay, much before he became C Joseph Vijay of today.
Since then, I have attended many lunches that he hosted for film journalists, where he insisted on serving us all personally. To him, we were all ‘anna’, ‘anni’, or madam, while he was always ‘thambi’ to us.
I have interacted with all the top actors, stars, and starlets. Most of them love to talk about how they prepared for a particular role. I never had that conversation with him. Vijay has no airs about him. As a caddy in Cosmo TNGF where I play golf once said, Vijay is like the average Tamil movie buff who enjoys the song and dance. When I told him that everyone was dancing to his songs during Pongal, not merely in colleges but even in corporate events, Vijay just grinned happily. No other comment was necessary.
Once, after I was critical of one of his films in my review, he called. I thought he was going to be angry with me; after all, he had been accessible to me as a journalist – a not-so-common thing in the industry these days. But all he asked was one thing: what could he have done better in that film. After our conversation, he understood that valid criticism has to be placed in the proper forum. I was glad he saw it from my point of view.
As years passed by, Vijay’s possible transition from films to politics was being spoken about. It was in the air when I met him for an exclusive interview in 2011. Deep down I was wondering if my gut instinct was wrong and if he would choose to not take the plunge. When I asked him, he said, “I need to prepare myself.” When I persisted and asked if he would enter the fray right away, he quipped, "Can I phone a friend?"
By then, Vijay already had advisors. But he was his own man, and had the clarity that taking the political leap required methodical planning. He said while politics was definitely on the agenda, he would not enter the fray just yet, that the Lok Sabha route was not the way he wanted to do it, and that he would definitely launch a new party.
“This is not the time for it. I cannot do it just because someone is propping me up. I have to firm up the foundation. But the people of Tamil Nadu will definitely take me there,” he had said.
During that half-hour interview which we recorded in his house, Vijay was his boyish self. When we wrapped up the interview and were shooting remaining visuals inside the room, he invited me to wait inside his house. I chose to go over the video with Lucas while Vijay went inside the room. After some time, some lively noises emanated from the room that disturbed our work, prompting me to knock on the door and brusquely tell him to lower the decibel! Vijay apologised at once and said he was playing indoor cricket with his son. "I enjoy playing cricket, nga," he said. The star was ordinary and extraordinary at the same time, and I almost asked him if I could film that and use the footage as cut-aways.
On another occasion, when yet another one of his films was caught in a tangle before release, I met Vijay for an exclusive interview. He spoke on how the discussions were progressing, but did not ask me to write about it. He left it open, only saying, "I will do another film". He was careful to never diss anyone while speaking with me; not because I, a journalist, would check with the other party, but he was that kind of a person. He has never put down anyone else, in all the years I have known him.
The only time he asked me to write something was not for himself. "Can you write about my mother's new devotional CD? She is a good singer, as you know," he had said. I had met his parents at their residence and he came across as their obedient son. In Tamil we say, "amma, appa nilluna nikkaran, ukkaruna ukkararan. Nalla paiyyan". Vijay that day reminded me of that.
Everyone knew Joseph Vijay was going to make a dent in the 2026 Assembly elections. Only a handful predicted the actual outcome: a 35% mark, pushing the two Dravidian majors, the DMK and AIADMK, to second and third place, respectively. Now, everyone wants to know who is backing him and who is advising him, driven by the general assumption that as an actor he may be reel-strong but not necessarily an expert in real world affairs.
They forget that actors have excellent retentive power from listening to scripts, and can act at the drop of a hat, concealing their true emotions. And at their core, they are ferocious about retaining their fan base. The same is true about politicians. As for knowledge on economics and worldly matters, they can always listen to an expert, just as how they listen to assistant directors detailing the scene about to be shot.
The majority seems to agree, as is clear from the mandate Vijay received. As the caddy told me, the ‘whistle’ spoke to him and he voted accordingly. “He is one of us; why not give him a chance to do what needs to be done for us?”
It is not an easy script. But eminently doable. With the huge mandate, Vijay has to step up to the role.
(The writer is a senior journalist)