In the May 2026 Tamil Nadu State Assembly elections, the Tamil film actor and star Vijay won the largest share of seats and went on to become the Chief Minister. With that he also became the newest link in the oldest cine-politics crossover relationship in the country, one that began at the time of India's independence.
No other state in India has had the kind of long and complex relationship between films and politics that Tamil Nadu has had. The author uses data and analysis to make sense of this complex connection that film industry stalwarts like MGR, Karunanidhi, Jayalalithaa, and now, Vijay, have had with the state's politics. He also draws a unique perspective on the largest overlap of the Tamil public - those who are watching movies and voting in elections – in the past eighty years as they moved from the age of the written word to the visual age of cinema to the current moment, and the influence of social media, meme culture, and OTT.


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