Jayalalitha To Vijay Thalapathy: Actors Who Turned Politicians From Tamil Nadu
- By: swati singh
- 2026-05-04, 16:55 IST
1/7 Jayalalitha To Vijay Thalapathy: Actors Who Turned Politicians From Tamil Nadu
Thalapathy Vijay is the latest in a long lineage of Tamil cinema icons to trade the silver screen for the political stage.
2/7 Jayalalitha
MGR’s most successful co-star J. Jayalalithaa defied expectations to become the AIADMK’s Iron Lady. Despite the party’s anti-Brahmin roots, she consolidated power after MGR's death and served as Chief Minister a record five times.
3/7 Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan launched Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) in 2018 to fill the power vacuum left by J. Jayalalithaa’s death. Positioning his party as a rational, Gandhian alternative to both the Dravidian giants and the BJP, Haasan has championed governance-focused ideals but has so far struggled to translate his cinematic stardom into significant electoral victories.
4/7 Thalapathy Vijay
Thalapathy Vijay, a prominent South Indian actor, has transitioned from a successful film career to politics, launching his party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and now even to possibly take over the seat of Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
5/7 Khusbu Sundar
She joined the DMK in 2010 and later moved to the BJP. Recently serving on the National Commission for Women, she remains a powerful, if often controversial, force in Tamil Nadu’s political and social landscape.
6/7 Sivaji Ganesan
Celebrated icon Sivaji Ganesan transitioned from the DMK to the Congress, eventually serving as an MP, but struggled to replicate MGR’s political dominance. After his own party, the Thamizhaga Munnetra Munnani, failed at the polls in 1989, it was merged with the Janata Dal, marking the end of his independent political venture.
7/7 MGR
Cinema legend MGR leveraged his 'savior of the poor' screen image to found the AIADMK in 1972, ultimately serving as Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister for three consecutive terms.