Actor-MLA Udhayanidhi Stalin, son of DMK head and current Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin is busy promoting the release of his last film as an actor - Maamannan. Maamannan written and directed by Mari Selvaraj is touted to be a political thriller and releases in theaters tomorrow i.e. June 29, 2023. 

Udhayanidhi is quitting acting to focus full-time on politics since he is the next CM-hopeful of the DMK party. Throughout his Maamannan promotional phase, Udhay has been consistently asked about another potential politico from the Tamil film industry i.e. actor Vijay. 

Actor Vijay's fan-club Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (VMI) has been soft-launching its political aspirations for a while now, and though not registered yet as an official political party, VMI is expected to contest in the 2026 Tamil Nadu state legislative assembly elections. When asked on how he views Vijay's potential political entry and the parallels drawn between him and the actor, Udhayanidhi who has admitted to once sharing a close relationship with Vijay said,

"After I had become an MLA..he (Vijay) and I apoke for about 10 minutes at a family function, he appreciated me for the work that I was doing. But we didn't get to speak politics or movies in particular..At the DMK party, we have certain (base) policies we represent/ fight for like state autonomy (as opposed to being center-governed), opposition of Hindi (language) imposition. Vijay has to first announce his party, then his policies, I have to see whether they align with ours or is on a different path and then only can I opine on how both our political journeys can be.."

 

Vijay recently honoured class X and class XII toppers from all the constituencies of the Tamil Nadu state with a Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyakkam Education Award. The actor while addressing the students and their parents had insisted on not taking money before voting. He gave them a ballpark of how much goes into securing cash-votes and asked them to think about how much a party should have "earned" to be spending that much just on securing votes. While Udhayanidhi did not comment on the cash-votes take, he did appreciate Vijay for awarding the Tamil Nadu state toppers.