O Captain! My Captain! - Remembering the glorious career of Vijayakanth 

Paying tribute to legendary actors is tough. It is tougher when the tribute is for a personality like Vijayakanth, who stood for social justice and gave it all for the people, both on and off screen. The philanthropist who wiped off the hunger of thousands of people is no more. The actor who relentlessly entertained several generations is no more. The 'captain' who led an entire film industry to peace and glory is no more.

Actor-politician Vijayakanth breathed his last on Thursday morning after suffering from health-related issues. He was 71. An official statement from the hospital said that he was diagnosed with pneumonia. The actor who was tested positive for Covid-19, was being treated at Chennai's MIOT Hospital.

Born as Vijayaraj, he was interested in acting even as a youngster and wanted to make his mark in the film industry. Even though he hailed from a fairly wealthy family in Madurai, he decided to create himself without any support. Having no connections in cinema, he toiled hard to get his debut role. He finally got a breakthrough with Inikkum Ilamai, the Radikaa-Sudhakar starrer, which featured him as an antagonist. Quite similar to the other 'kanth', Rajinikanth, who reportedly served as an inspiration in his early acting journey, Vijayaraj changed his maiden name to Vijayakanth for his first  film. The 'magnetic' transformation in his name didn't do him wonders initially and the film failed to attract the audience and positive reviews. But the setback didn't quench the fire in him and he went on to work twice as hard and made heads turn with K Vijayan's Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam. His first bonafide success came in the form of vigilante actioner Sattam Oru Iruttarai, directed by SA Chandrasekhar, and the film gave him the angry young man image, which he embraced readily. Through projects like Sivappu Malli, he started including political themes like communism and marxism in his body of work and started representing the working class youngsters through his roles. With back to back releases based on social justice like Jadhikkoru Needhi and Needhi Pizhaithathu, he steadily built a signature of his own. Visu's Dowry Kalyanam came as a surprise amidst the social thrillers Vijayakanth was part of. He also took up multi-starrers like Nooravathu Naal, co-starring major stars like Mohan, without any inhibitions and went on to prove his uniqueness with nuanced performances.

R Sundarrajan's Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal, showcased the immensely talented performer in him to the audience. His portrayal as the derelict lover Vellaisamy, mourning the demise of his beloved, won love unanimously and gave him his first all center hit across the state. Though he faced tough competition from two major giants, Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, he forged a special place in both box office collections and people's hearts. In 1985, he amped up his experimentation meter and went on to be a part of Tamil cinema's first 3D film Annai Bhoomi and the devotional film Navagraha Nayagi. Despite joining hands with stars from other languages like Kannada superstar Vishnuvardhan for projects like Eetti, Vijayakanth was a rare actor who never took to acting in films of any other language. This was at a time when his films were remade or dubbed and released in other languages and enjoyed much success; also, his contemporaries had already opened their account in non-Tamil films. The 1985 film Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri, which is still thought of as featuring one of the best performances of the actor, proved that he didn't need a comedian alongside him to bring the roof down.

Vijayakanth went on to play the role of an aged cop in his thirties in the cult classic Oomai Vizhigal. By headlining the project, he facilitated the debut of a group of well-deserving film institute students like Aabavanan, Arun Pandian and R Aravindraj into the industry. The khaki he donned in the film became Vijayakanth's lucky charm and he went on to play a cop in more than twenty films in the following years.

In addition to his lineup of films centred on social justice and police stories, he cleverly managed to position himself as the guardian of romance with films like Senthoora Poove and Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran. In both films which were released in 1986, he played the sacrificial figure who would go to any length to ensure that young couples united.

The early 90s marked the monstrous growth of Vijayakanth's stardom and market. He scaled further heights in his two strong zones: cop actioners and rural dramas.  While he gave back-to-back hits as the urban policeman in Pulan Visaranai and Chatriyan, he balanced it with the moustache-twirling, village heads he played in Chinna Gounder and Sakkarai Devan. By now, his angry youngster image had faded and he was seen as the almighty saviour, regardless of the setting of his films. With police films like Captain Prabhakaran and Maanagara Kaaval, he took on plotlines based on controversial issues like the hunt for Veerappan and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, with alternate fictionalised twists. Vijayakanth hit it out of the park with both films and built a solid fanbase for his stylised action sequences in those films. Captain Prabharakaran became one of the major milestones in his career, so much so that the epithet Captain stuck to his name and everyone started referring to him so, since then.

Though Vijayakanth proved his calibre in various facets of acting, he was often criticised for playing it safe with dance. He took this criticism as a challenge and surprised everyone with his western moves in the song, Punnagaiyil Minsaram from Bharathan. In the mid-90s, he steadily increased his focus on action scenes in films like Sethupathi IPS and Honest Raj. People started to flock to the theatre to see the star perform stunts all by himself, without the aid of a body double.

The 21st century started with the soothing, slow-paced family drama Vaanathai Pola for Vijayakanth, but took a 360 degree turn in no time. Vijayakanth started using his films as a vehicle to carry his political ideologies to the masses. And to achieve that effectively, he took up over-the-top entertainers as the catalyst. Though the audience had forever seen their Captain defeat villains ranging from rural thugs to international terrorists, they were surprised by the new unbeatable fighting machine avatar in his masala-rich potboilers like Vallarasu, Simahasanam, Narasimha and Vanchinathan. The films featured Vijayakanth having fun with his new superhero image and taking down armies of men without breaking a sweat. Interestingly enough, the audience also got to witness glimpses of the flag and logo of his future party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam as easter eggs in the backgrounds of these hyper masala outings.  However, it was AR Murugadoss' Ramanaa that gave rocket propulsion to his political aspirations and made people buy him as a people's leader. His subtle performance as the head of the secret vigilante group with a heart of gold moved every viewer and the film received overwhelming love from all corners.

However, post his political entry in 2005, his films and their quality took a backseat. Despite having the same ingredients of his past success formulas, films like Sudesi, Perarasu and Dharmapuri failed to recreate the magic. His attempt to reunite with his hit director Vikraman for the family drama Mariyadhai too resulted in disappointment. With Virudhagiri (2010), Vijayakanth took matters into his own hands and made his directorial debut. The unofficial retelling of Liam Neeson's Taken managed to win over positive reviews, despite its humble performance at the box office. In November 2015, he returned to acting in Thamizhan Endru Sol, alongside his son, Shanmuga Pandian. The film's production was suspended due to the upcoming TN Assembly elections and the deteriorating health of Vijayakanth, within a few days of shooting. Though there were multiple rumours of him being part of several recent films, unfortunately the unfinished Thamizhan Endru Sol marked the last time the legend faced the camera.

Aside from being a busy actor, who worked on multiple call sheets during his initial days and refused remuneration from struggling producers during his peak stardom to support cinema, Vijayakanth redefined the way junior artists and technical assistants were treated on sets as the President of Nadigar Sangam. Through the meticulously planned 'star nights', which involved every major actor from the industry, he uplifted the actors union and restored it to old glory. Vijayakanth acted as a safe zone and go-to person for everyone in the industry and was truly a man with no haters.

A line from his own film, Ramanaa, could best summarise the complete life he lived. "If a mother cries after the demise of a person, it testifies that he was a good son. But if a nation cries after the demise of a person, it testifies that he was a good leader!"