Chennai: Vijayakanth passes away

Chennai : DMDK founder-leader and popular yesteryear Tamil actor Vijayakanth, who sowed the seeds of hope among his supporters on the possibility of a real alternative to the Dravidian majors, the DMK and AIADMK, died here on Thursday following illness.

Praised as 'Karuppu MGR' (black MGR) by his fans for his generosity, Vijayakanth had been ill and kept a low profile for the past 4-5 years and his wife Premalatha formally took over the reins of the DMDK on December 14 and she was declared the general secretary at a party meet here.

Vijayakanth aged 71 was popular as 'Captain' after he performed the role of an IFS officer in the 1991 blockbuster Tamil movie 'Captain Prabhakaran.' He is survived by his wife and two sons. Vijayakanth was born Vijayaraj to KN Alagarsamy and Andal Alagarsamy in the temple town of Madurai. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister M K Stalin were among a string of leaders to condole the death.

The acclaimed actor, even before he gave the hope of a new messiah after his political entry in 2005, had a huge fan following, which he organised well into a structural unit and that stood him in good stead when he took the political plunge.