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Thalapathy Vijay’s Lankan fans revel in victory with song, dance, and charity
View(s):By S. Rubatheesan
Nearly a week has passed since the actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay assumed duties as the 13th Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, but his fans across the Palk Strait are still celebrating his victory.
Vijay fans in Lanka's north present a tube well to a poor family to celebrate their idol's victory in Tamil Nadu assembly elections
A musical DJ night featuring movie songs of ‘Ilayathalapathy’, the nickname given to the actor, referring to him as Young Commander, was organised at a rooftop bar in one of Colombo’s high-end hotels yesterday (16).
The tickets for the event, held from 10 p.m. until 2.30 a.m. today (17), were sold out on social media and online.
Prices of tickets ranged from Rs 9,000 per couple to Rs 12,000 for the whole table, according to an official involved in the event management organisation.
“We organised this event as his big fans to mark his unprecedented victory in the recent TN elections. It’s like a tribute to him by all the fans,” he told the Sunday Times.
T. Inparaj (23), from Maradana, is an ardent fan of ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay. He was considering attending the event with his friends but found the ticket prices too high.
“We celebrated the electoral victory of ‘Anna’ in our neighbourhood by sharing sweets and lighting firecrackers. It would be good to attend this event to chill and have a good time,” he said.
Days after his swearing-in ceremony and massive electoral win in the nearly two-year-old party Thamizaka Vettri Kazaham (TVK), a group of influential businessmen from Pettah organised an ‘invitation-only’ party at a high-end private club in Colombo. Dozens of vehicles participated in a victory parade, waving the actor’s posters and flags.
At the entrance of the club, a poster featuring ‘Nam Karikaalan’, depicting the actor as the Sangam period Chola king and hero, was put up. Inside the party venue, posters from the actor’s movies and stills adored the walls.
Not only in Colombo, but also in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Vavuniya, Batticaloa, and the up-country region, Vijay’s fans organised similar events and victory parades.
At Pundaluoya in the Kandy district, fans sporting shawls across their shoulders and bandanas on their foreheads in TVK colours staged a victory march down the main street. It concluded with a cake-cutting ceremony. Fans were taking selfies, and some went live on social media to broadcast their victory celebrations.
In Jaffna, youths representing ‘fan clubs’ organise various events to celebrate the victory. One such club assisted a family to get access to drinking water by financing and setting up a tube well.
Wrapped in TVK flags and Thalapathy t-shirts, his fans arrived at the beneficiary’s house as the ground tube well drilling team prepared to begin operations. Then they chanted, “Thalapathy vaazhga” (Long live Thalapathy) before the drilling machine was put to work.
| Fisheries Minister urges Vijay to ban bottom trawling Fisheries Minister S. Chandrasekar has urged the newly elected Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to ban bottom trawling fishing practices while pointing out that Sri Lanka has made the fishing method illegal as part of its commitment to end illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities. The minister was responding to the letter sent by CM Vijay to India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar to secure the early release of six Indian fishermen who were arrested for engaging in bottom trawling near Mannar sea on Tuesday. Addressing the media in Kilinochchi on Thursday, the minister recalled that the Sri Lankan government enacted legislation in 2017 to ban the fishing methods, given the significant damage they cause to marine resources, including coral reefs in Mannar Bay and the marine ecosystem as a whole in the northern seas. “The chief minister should consider banning the practice in Tamil Nadu as well, considering the impact it has on our sea and, importantly, to ensure the livelihood of Northern fisherfolk communities,” Mr Chandrasekar said. He also expressed his willingness to engage in talks with the new chief minister to revive the fishermen-level talks to resolve the long-standing fishing disputes. In his letter to Mr Jaishankar, Chief Minister Vijay urged him to utilise diplomatic channels to secure their early release and safe repatriation and get back their fishing boats. “It has also been brought to our notice that 54 fishermen are already in Sri Lankan prisons and 264 boats have been impounded by the Sri Lankan authorities. In this regard, I request you to take up the matter with the Sri Lankan authorities through appropriate diplomatic channels to secure the release of the detained fishermen and their boats at the earliest,” Mr Vijay said in his letter. | |
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