6 min readMay 4, 2026 04:45 PM IST First published on: May 4, 2026 at 04:45 PM ISTThe MGR comparisons are, perhaps, unavoidable, as Joseph Vijay, megastar and political greenhorn, has wrecked electoral calculations in Tamil Nadu. At the time of writing, the actor-turned-politician’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam — dismissed in most pre-poll analyses as a mere disruptor — looks set to form the government, with the incumbent DMK, trailing far behind.How did this happen? It would be easy to reach for the most obvious explanations — the first being that Tamil Nadu, with its history of worshipping film stars, even handing them the mandate, was about due for another such moment. Outside the state, this is the popular, and reductive, understanding of Tamil Nadu’s proud political tradition: MGR proved it when he swept to power in J Jayalalithaa did it in 1991 when she stepped up as MGR’s successor and became chief minister.AdvertisementThe political fabric of the state, however, is woven with more than one kind of thread (even if they’re all varying shades of Dravidianism). It calls for the kind of immersion and commitment — and bone-deep understanding of its distinctive culture — that even the most popular matinee idol may not be able to muster. Witness what happened to Rajinikanth’s political ambitions, with a long-speculated party failing to materialise and the superstar eventually announcing the dissolution of his plans to focus on films. Ulaganayagan (Universal Hero) Kamal Haasan at least formed the Makkal Needhi Maiam; ultimately, though, the “third force” in Tamil Nadu politics failed to win a single seat in the 2021 assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.Also Read | DMK’s defeat proves it: Welfare is the floor, elections have moved to the ceilingThere will also be the inevitable attempts to locate the DMK’s failure to retain its hold on power in simple anti-incumbency. Not that this is insignificant: The party, led by MK Stalin since the death of M Karunanidhi, has, after all, held the state for the last two terms. There have been notable successes, particularly its social welfare schemes, like the flagship monthly financial assistance for women. Tamil Nadu’s strong, double-digit growth, with the state becoming India’s second-largest economy, also provided ballast for the “Dravidian Model” narrative projected by the DMK. But the failures are serious too, particularly when it comes to corruption and law and order; the high-handedness that follows entrenched power has been evident in cases such as the 2020 Santhakulam custodial torture and death of father and son, Jayaraj and Bennix, in which a sessions court recently handed down the death penalty to nine policemen.A related issue would be the DMK’s perceived disconnect from the real problems of jobs, law and order, etc, given its sharpened focus on the larger questions of federalism and Tamil identity. It might have seemed, in the last few years, that the Stalin-led government was being handed issues like the spectre of Hindi imposition and delimitation on a platter. Even thorny problems of education policy, centred on the New Education Policy and NEET, were cast as an undermining of Tamil interests. That none of this ultimately appears to have made a difference could lend credence to arguments about DMK’s disengagement from what really matters to the state’s people — except that Vijay’s TVK, now surging ahead as the people’s choice, has let rhetoric stand in for any actual articulation of his alternative vision for Tamil Nadu.AdvertisementWhat Vijay’s stunning success may, ultimately, show is that Tamil Nadu’s dissatisfaction runs deeper than most analysts and experts suspected. It is, on the one hand, a fatigue with what has been a bipolar contest for far too long and, on the other, frustration with a political imagination that refuses to reach for something fresh, continuing to speak in the established grammar of the Dravidian Movement without reckoning with new aspirations and frustrations, and what social justice politics should look like in the 21st century.you may likeBut coming back to the MGR comparisons: Do they even hold? Thalapathy’s sweep may well be historic but that’s where any similarities with the Puratchi (revolutionary) Thalaivar end. MGR, after all, was a dyed-in-the-wool ideologue, mentored by C N Annadurai and formed in the crucible of Dravidian politics. He had a long history of political and social work — bolstered by the messaging in his films — to draw on when he came to power in 1977. Vijay, who launched TVK two years ago, has no political or administrative experience to back him. He has cast the DMK as the TVK’s “political opponent” and the BJP as its “ideological opponent”. There has been the occasional agitation, including the call to ban NEET on the grounds that the exam discriminates against rural students (a position that the DMK too occupies). But what exactly Vijay envisions for Tamil Nadu beyond the vague idea of “an honest administration” is unclear.There is, however, another star-turned-politician whose story offers, if not a direct comparison, then at least a salutary lesson for Vijay. Captain Vijayakanth, who formed the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in 2005, rode a wave of anti-corruption sentiment against the DMK to become the second-largest party in 2011 (after the AIADMK under Jayalalithaa), with the Karuppu (dark) MGR himself becoming Leader of the Opposition. Captain, too, had chief ministerial ambitions, and positioned himself as a kingmaker after 2011. Within a decade, however, the DMDK was reduced to a bit player in Tamil Nadu politics, thanks to the cult of personality that developed around the leader and the absence of second-tier leadership within the party. For Vijay’s TVK, which also seems to be banking entirely on its founder’s magnetism and fandom, this is something to think about when the celebrations have ended and the real work of politics — and governance — has begun.The writer is senior assistant editor, The Indian Expresspooja.pillai@expresindia.com