“After several years, Thala and Thalapathy have acted together in a movie called ‘Regime Change’, which released today and doing extremely well,” said a Twitter user on Tuesday, with the hashtag #VoteForDMKAlliance. The accompanying pictures were that of actor Vijay on his red-and-black cycle as he came to vote, and his contemporary and biggest rival in the industry, actor Ajith, wearing a red-and-black mask — the colours of the DMK party.
Vijay and Ajith both have a huge fan base in the state, and their respective fans frequently fight each other on social media. But when it came to speculating over the actors’ votes this election, several media persons and people — including a large number of DMK supporters — have ascribed motives to their choice of cycle and mask. The commenters believe this was their subtle way of showing support for the DMK, which is hoping to make a comeback after 10 years in the state.
நீண்ட ஆண்டுகளுக்கு பிறகு தல - தளபதி இணைந்து நடித்த "ஆட்சி மாற்றம்" படம் இன்று ரிலீஸ் ஆகி சக்கப் போடு போடுது. #Vote4DMKAlliance pic.twitter.com/KyhgSGdyXP
— Babu Vmk (@BabuVMK) April 6, 2021
Others of course pointed out that Vijay was also wearing a green shirt — the colour of the incumbent AIADMK — suggesting that reading too much symbolism into his cycle was wrong. Meanwhile, some others shared a speech of Ajith from 2010, where he hit out at politicians for forcing actors to attend political functions. The speech was made in front of then-Chief Minister Kalaignar Karunanidhi, and while Ajith didn’t name any party, it was seen as a direct rebuke to the DMK.
In Vijay’s case, it’s not just the colour of the cycle, but the cycle itself that came in for speculation — that this was the actor’s protest against rising fuel prices. However, Vijay’s team clarified that the only reason he took the cycle to the polling booth was because it was one street away from his house, and taking a car would have blocked the narrow road.
Both Ajith and Vijay have not supported any political party overtly, but because of their huge fan base, it’s only expected that their every action is watched closely, say observers.
Pic : DMK Flag
— RiJOY (@iamrijoy) April 6, 2021
Actor Ajith was wearing same color mask while voting & actor Vijay was using same colored bicycle when he came to vote.#NoVoteForBJP pic.twitter.com/c8wkAXFfDA
You know when both Ajit and Vijay turn up sending a message with one protesting against fuel prices by bicycling and another wearing a black and red mask reflective of DMK, that the result will overwhelmingly be in favour of Congress-DMK alliance!
— Sridhar Ramaswamy శ్రీధర్ రామస్వామి (@sridhar1085) April 6, 2021
The fan bases will defeat BJP!
Vijay comes riding a Black & Red bicycle, symbolically protesting the fuel price rise. Ajith comes wearing a Black & Red mask!!Stalin Thaan varaaru... Vidiyal thara Pooraru #TNwithDMK #VoteForDMK #Tnwithdmk #votefordmk
— Vijayakumar Singaravelu (@vijayak2191) April 6, 2021
With Tamil superstars Ajith and vijay's actions on the election day seen as the support for DMK front, one has to be in TN to understand the enthusiasm among voters to vote out BJP alliance @sanjoyr03 @Paragbhandari1
— aashiq ahamed (@aashiq_14) April 6, 2021
Definitely, yes! Both of them are unequivocally calling upon this fans to #VoteForDMK
— Dusky Tamizhachi (@TamizhRatsaschi) April 6, 2021
And that was a great decision in the interest of Tamils!