Vijayakant, popularly known as ‘Captain’, made his debut in 1979 as a villain in Inikkum Ilamai. A contemporary of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, both of whom towered over the Tamil film industry, Vijayakant still managed to hold his ground.
After a series of flops since his first film, Vijayakant’s career turned around with Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam which went on to be remade in all south Indian languages and in Hindi. Though his last few films have won him derision from the people, Vijayakant holds a few records in Kollywood – he’s the only actor to have released 18 films in a single year, a feat he achieved in 1984. This was the same year in which he acted in Vaidhehi Kathirunthal, which was a blockbuster.
He also acted in the first Tamil 3D film – Annai Bhoomi 3D.
The title ‘Captain’ comes from Captain Prabhakaran, a landmark film in Vijayakant’s career. It was his 100th film and the actor played a forest officer who hunts down a brigand named Veerabhadran. The story was heavily inspired from the life of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan. The film went on to become a blockbuster.
Previously, Vijayakant had starred in Pulan Visaranai, which is till date considered to be among the best crime thrillers in Tamil cinema. Donning khaki was something Vijayakant had done in several films but he will perhaps be best remembered for Sathriyan, which was produced by Mani Ratnam and told the story of an honest police officer and a corrupt politician. Another Vijayakant cop film that became a superhit was Sethupathy IPS.
Chinna Gounder saw Vijayakant playing a distinctly different role from his usual action flicks. The ‘bambaram’ scene in which he lets loose a spinning top on the heroine Sukanya’s navel was the heights of erotica in Kollywood (we didn’t need Fifty Shades of Grey to think of ideas like this!) and it completed a 100 days in theatres.
Vijayakant’s career graph saw many hits in the ‘90s and even into the new millennium, films like Vanathai Pola, Vallarasu, and Simmasanam did well. However, after the success of Ramanaa, he made one dud after another. The audience had moved on to greater expectations and the style of filmmaking was seeing rapid changes in Kollywood. Time and age had caught up with Vijayakant and his later films with their ‘explosive’ and unreal dialogues turned him into the butt of jokes and memes.
Though Vijayakant turned to cinema once again after his political career suffered a slump and to promote his son, he’d already become too stale in the minds of the audience. His nickname, Captain, which used to elicit respect and admiration, became a title to be mocked.
Vijayakant’s journey into filmdom without any industry mentors and at a period when two giants like Kamal and Rajini dominated the screens was nothing short of remarkable. For those who did not watch his best films, he was little more than a meme. But for those who did, it was a poignant lesson on moving with the times. RIP, Captain.
Read: Goodbye, Captain: Actor and DMDK chief Vijayakant passes away