Chennai: Popular Tamil actor and founding leader of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Vijayakanth passed away at a hospital here on Thursday. He was 71. Vijayakanth was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai the other day after his illness took a turn for the worse. He was put on the ventilator after he tested positive for COVID-19. Hospital authorities confirmed the death at 9 am.

MIOT International Hospital said in a press release: "Captain Vijayakanth was on ventilatory support following his admission for pneumonia. Despite the best efforts of the medical staff, he passed away in the morning on 28th December 2023."
The Tamil Nadu government announced full state honours for Vijayakanth's funeral.

Vijayakanth gave many superhits in Tamil in the 80s and 90s and was called Captain by his fans. He was a member of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly twice. He is survived by his wife Premalatha and sons Shanmukha Pandian and Vijayaprabhakaran.

Born on August 25, 1952, to K N Alagarswamy and Andal Alagarswamy in Madurai, Vijayakanth's official name is Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswamy.

Praised as 'Karuppu MGR' (black MGR) by his fans for his generosity, Vijayakanth had been ill and kept a low profile for the past five 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 allied with the AIADMK in the 2011 Assembly elections and the Jayalalithaa-led bloc won the polls and the DMDK founder went on to become the Leader of the Opposition.

His verbal duel with Jayalalithaa in the Assembly took the state by storm and he appeared all set to take on the powers that be and break down the hegemony of the Dravidian parties, that have held sway for over half a century in Tamil Nadu's political landscape.
(With PTI inputs)