02 February,2024 01:51 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Thalapathy Vijay
Top Tamil actor Thalapathy Vijay on Friday announced launching a political party, 'Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam', and said he will contest the 2026 Assembly polls in the state. Politics was not yet another vocation but "holy public service," he said in a statement here.
The name of the party 'Tamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam' would loosely translate to 'Tamil Nadu Victory Party'. The announcement prompted spontaneous celebrations from his fans, even as speculations were rife for some time about the actor taking the political plunge in a state known for stars graduating from cinema to politics, including the late veterans M G Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa.
In a statement issued by the actor, he said, "We are making an application today to the EC to register our party âTamizhaga Vetri Kazhagam'. Our goal is to contest and win the upcoming 2026 assembly elections and bring about the fundamental political change that people want."
However, Vijay said his party will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, nor would it support anyone, as decided in its recently held General Council and Executive Council meetings. "I have decided to complete the film I have already committed to, without affecting the party work and completely involve myself in the politics of public service."
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"I consider this as my gratitude towards the people of Tamil Nadu," Vijay added.
Vijay's upcoming work:
In January this year, Thalapathy Vijay had announced the title and posters of his upcoming film. Titled 'The Greatest Of All Time', the film has been directed by Venkat Prabhu. 'The Greatest of All Time' is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language science fiction action film directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by AGS Entertainment. The film stars Vijay in dual roles, leading an ensemble cast that includes Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Sneha, Laila, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Parvati Nair, Mohan, Jayaram, Ajmal Ameer, Yogi Babu, VTV Ganesh, Vaibhav, Premgi Amaren, Aravind Akash and Ajay Raj. Yuvan Shankar Raja will compose the music. The cinematography and editing will be handled by Siddhartha Nuni and Venkat Raajen respectively.
Although not much about the film is known yet, it is touted to be a film based on time travel. Earlier this year, in September, Vijay went to Los Angeles to get a 3D scan of his body for the film.
