From Mass Hero to Political Contender: A Strategic Communication Analysis of Ideological Layering and Pre-Marketing in Actor Vijay’s Cinematic Trajectory

Abstract

Films and politics are interwoven with each other. Tamil films in particular have stood the test of time as a strategic communication medium for planting political ideologies and harvesting the required public acceptance. Actors in the past as well as present have emerged as political leaders by utilizing their popularity to mobilize the masses by layering their ideologies through films. The current research aims to explore the strategic transformation of Tamil Actor Vijay’s persona from being a ‘Mass Hero’ to an ‘Emerging Political Contender’ with the establishment of his political party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK). The study shall analyze the cinematic arc of the actor’s movies from Mersal to The Greatest of All Time (GOAT), his last released film through the Qualitative lens with an interpretive design that will analyze the ideological layering and pre-marketing of actor Vijay’s films. The analysis focuses on the careful construction of a leadership identity in the actor’s filmography that serves as a primary vehicle engineering political legitimacy much before his formal entry to electoral politics.