5 Facts On Vijayakanth, 'Captain' Who Wore Many Caps

Vijayakanth was born Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami in Madurai in 1952. It was during his acting career that he dropped 'raj' from his name and added 'kanth'. As for the title 'Captain', it came from his character in 1991 movie Captain Prabhakaran, in which he played a forest officer. In 1990, he married Premalatha, who would go on to support his political journey.

In 2005, Vijayakanth founded the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in the Tamil Nadu political landscape dominated by the DMK and the AIADMK. The party's first electoral test in the 2006 Assembly polls saw only Vijayakanth finish a winner. Despite the lone victory, DMDK did manage to cause a flutter in the state's politics.

The 2011 state polls turned out to be DMDK's best election. That year, Vijayakanth had forged an alliance with AIADMK and contest 41 seats. It managed to win 29 of them, more than the DMK's count. Vijayakanth became Leader of the Opposition and remained in the post till 2016.

The next election was a disappointment for Vijayakanth and DMDK. The senior leader lost the election and the deposit in the 2016 election. His party, too, drew a blank. The DMDK failed to revive its fortunes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when it contested in alliance with the BJP and AIADMK. Over the past few years, Vijayakanth was ill and kept a low profile. His wife Premalatha had been handling the party's affairs.

Besides his eventful careers as an actor and a politician, Vijayakanth also founded an engineering college and set up a television channel named Captain TV. He has also served as president of the South Indian Film Artistes' Association.