From the ‘Angry Young Man’ to politics: A close look at the political ideology of Thalapathy Vijay in his films

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After a brief introduction by the saint to the illusion-creating powers of cinema, how many in Tamil Nadu have come to understand today its tremendous impact on politics? From the unlikely duo of M.G.R and J.Jayalalitha, the cinema- politics link was forged in the Tamil Nadu of post democratic auspices, and has now been established firmly by C.Joseph Vijay's upright stand on political and social issues. Who might have conceived that the pre-political work of C. Joseph Vijay (personified by Thalapathy Vijay) was not so much a brand as a message. Fifty different such films, with two socio-political mindsets, a party field, and a platform formed the crucial avenue for this cult personality, the Angry Young Man, and his political party, Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam.

The 'Angry Young Man' molded by the popular Tamil actor Vijay is not simply a regional, populist form of the Bollywood talking ones that made Amitabh Bachchan famous in the seventies as the 'angry young man'. Rather, the eternal lover hero of Vijay is portrayed as an angry subaltern who is not just independent of the bosses but, fittingly, is himself a 'boss' to the common man while also strategically shunning the efficient institutional mechanisms to bring instant justice. Vijay's actions in this populist 'Angry Young Man' mode are also against corruption. He rebels against corporate farmers' land-grabbing in Kaththi (2014) and in Mersal (2017), he resists medical and health care corruption to make vaccines and medicine accessible to the poor. Vijay champions subnational pride and Tamil identity by taking higher authority to the people and by becoming a new ombudsman for the underprivileged.

Celluloid anger, the prominent political ideology was that of Tamilismo, Dravidianism and 'set-up' beware, the set-up is a federal overreach. Sarkar (2018) has a somewhat different voice. It does not denote a kind of cinema, but just moves the discussion to electoral systems and fraud, to uplifting the role of the people. Voices of the actors, instead of a montage of characters in the narrative, in dialogue with the specific storyline, become a kind of manifesto, blending into the actors' own political desires. By taking keen on real-time issues that were so burning in public opinion, such as the agrarian crisis in the 1950s, the entrance of nationalized competitive testing, the overwhelming presence of corporate conglomerates, and so forth, these films acted as a preamble.

Additionally, this cinematic practice was based on intertextuality. Metanarratives of the movies (such as involving the audiences directly), and the symbolic colour competence were systematically related to the soul-rooted social welfare programmes of his fan-club network, i.e., Vijay Makkal Iyakkam. Therefore, the cinema hall itself was facilitated as a place of political socialisation.

Therefore, Vijay's move from screenroom to the state itself is the most extreme expression of media-vanguard politics. The "Angry Young Man" was more than a commercial staple; it was a structural instrument used to create a political power base, manufacture support, and pacify a huge chunk of the young voters. As we dissect what he stands for in his contemporary politics, we must first understand the rebellious cinematic Ratan’s underlying ideology, culture, and populist narrative.