Vijayakanth, DMDK Founder & Veteran Actor, Passes Away In Chennai Days After Testing Covid Positive

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) founder-leader and popular yesteryear Tamil actor Vijayakanth has passed away in Chennai following an illness. The 71-year-old actor turned politician was on ventilatory support after testing positive for Covid-19.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced full state honours for Vijayakanth’s funeral. In his condolence message, Stalin expressed shock and grief over Vijayakanth’s death and hailed him as an achiever; both as an actor and as a leader in public life.

MIOT International, the hospital where Vijayakanth was admitted, said he was battling pneumonia and passed away on Thursday morning.

“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 December 28, 2023,” the hospital said in a press release.

Vijayakanth was admitted to the hospital for a regular health check-up on Tuesday. At the time, the DMDK party said their leader was “healthy” and would return home after the tests.

However, later the party informed that Vijayakanth had tested positive for Covid-19 and is on ventilator support as he was facing difficulty in breathing.

Vijayakanth had been facing health issues since November, due to which his wife, Premalatha Vijayakanth took charge as the general secretary of DMDK on December 15.

Captain Vijayakanth, as he was affectionately called, was well-known for his intense speech and action scenes in his films. In 2006, he launched his political party and ran for office in the Assembly. In the 2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, he reversed the trend by allying with the AIADMK.

His party became the main opposition in the state after securing 29 seats and placing DMK in a distant third. Vijayakanth’s party collapsed and his health deteriorated following his party’s consecutive defeats in the next elections, which made him withdraw from public appearances.

Vijayakanth received the moniker Captain after the 1991 film Captain Prabhakaran, which was his 100th film.