Actor-politician Vijayakanth breathed his last on December 28 at a hospital in Chennai due to pneumonia. The 71-year-old was diagnosed with COVID-19 and was kept on ventilator support. His demise left a void in Tamil cinema. Popularly known as Captain in the fraternity, Vijayakanth was also the founder and president of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Political party and served as a MLA twice representing the constituency of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively from 2006 to 2016.
Vijayakanth was cremated in Chennai on Friday. A sea of fans gathered to pay their last tributes to the actor-politician. Celebrities from the Tamil film industry were at the funeral. Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and Vijay said an emotional goodbye to him. However, an unpleasant incident took place at the funeral.
According to a viral video, an anonymous person allegedly threw a slipper at Vijay. It can be seen that the Leo star was mobbed at the DMDK office by the crowd. Amid tight security, he was being taken to his car. Around that time, a person threw a slipper at him, but Vijay had a narrow miss.
Vijayakanth played a key role in Vijay's career. The latter's father, director S. A. Chandrasekhar collaborated with the actor-politician on multiple occasions. When Vijay's career was at a crucial point, Vijayakanth had an important part to play in making him taste success.