Captain Vijayakanth kicks up a storm with his media bashing, perhaps to stay in limelight and attention focused on him. It is a double edged sword, his supporters and cadres cringe and fear the worst. The captain, however, remains cool after blowing hot.

When it is actor turned politician – Karuppu MGR – Vijayakanth, one can be sure of histrionics and colour in equal measure and there is never a dull moment.

His encounters with the media and media persons can be quite engaging stuff that action films are made of, with comic relief peppering his shows on the road.

Ever since Vijayakanth broke into a political role, for which he assiduously built and prepared himself, that little element of retrain has eluded him often landing him plonk in the middle of controversies – whether it is slapping a partyman in full view or shouting or gesticulating at mediamen and women.

There are times when his party’s second rung leaders and cadres cringe when they see their leader behave thus and have a tough time sweet talking the media later on, so that it continues to stay on its side, or at least not be against it.

Love him or hate him, the media cannot ignore him, as he provides an interesting element in the political drama that is going on, besides being the kingmaker or spoiler for sure, this time around.

Now he has an exalted status – of being the chief ministerial candidate taking on Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi combined and thus more star value.

Which is why, he has to be doubly cautious and practice retrain to the maximum extent possible. But if you are Vijayakanth, that is a bit difficult as his latest encounters with the media persons show. He could not resist making faces at media persons and taking them on, like he did at his recent rally at Coimbatore the other day.

On Saturday, at his rally at Vadavalli, Vijayakanth opened his eyes stretching them with his thumbs as a gesture calculated to threaten the media. But, he quickly tried to correct himself saying that he was wiping his tears.
“People take photos of me in various angles and someone asked if I could pose as crying, that is why I did so,” said Vijayakanth.

Slowly but surely, Vijayakanth is realizing that he has quickly to do something about being fodder for memes on social media. Sometimes, one gets a feeling that even Vijayakanth himself is enjoying the memes and the manner in which he is portrayed, much to the chagrin of his cadres.

In the latest episode, Vijayakanth abused a print media journalist verbally. Ever since that airport incident, things only began to get worsen for the PWF-DMDK- TMC combine chief ministerial candidate.

The love-hate relationship between Vijayakanth and the media continues to provide amusement too for the viewers of news channels. But Vijaykanth never tires of this or cuts down his attacks. He spat at the media fraternity for lacking the guts to question Jayalalithaa.

The other day, Vijayakanth even raised his hand at a reporter, as if to have a go at him physically. Fortunately for him and the media person, better sense prevailed and the incident blew over.

But the actor turned politician is taking his fight with the media to a new level, and thinks nothing of teasing the media at every available opportunity.

The media surely does not like being thus targeted but his bite is surely making some of his cadres happy – and viewers glued to TV sets, asking for more comic interludes to provide a break from the electoral politics and election rhetoric.