'''Vijayakanth''' (born as '''Vijayraj Azhagarswami''' on 25 August 1952)<ref name="oneindia2006">[http://www.oneindia.com/2006/05/11/vijayakanth-says-he-won-despite-caste-factor-1147365354.html Vijayakanth says he won despite caste factor]. Oneindia (11 May 2006). Retrieved on 2016-12-04.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.dailypioneer.com/print.php?printFOR=storydetail&story_url_key=no-real-tamil-speaking-leaders-in-tn&section_url_key=nation|title=The Pioneer|website=www.dailypioneer.com|access-date=2016-12-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://swarajyamag.com/politics/when-tamil-nationalism-turned-against-telugu-speakers-of-tamil-nadu|title=When Tamil Nationalism Turned Against Telugu Speakers Of Tamil Nadu|access-date=2016-12-06}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.co.in/books?id=i0vLCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT193&lpg=PT193&dq=vaiko+tamil+nationalism&source=bl&ots=3Jk8so7RwX&sig=_PBZGEo3oOKb4GyBGpbjoB3lsY4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLlJvRoMbQAhUDto8KHTdhAB84ChDoAQgoMAM#v=onepage&q=vaiko%20tamil%20nationalism&f=false|title=Why Regional Parties?: Clientelism, Elites, and the Indian Party System|last=Ziegfeld|first=Adam|date=2016-02-19|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781316539002|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=S|first=Karthick|title=Rahul Gandhi greets DMDK chief on birthday, sparks alliance rumours|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-Gandhi-greets-DMDK-chief-on-birthday-sparks-alliance-rumours/articleshow_b2/22057167.cms?prtpage=1|work=[[The Times of India]]|accessdate=29 August 2013|date=26 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Tongues wag as Elangovan greets Captain|url=http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article208185.ece|accessdate=10 July 2013|newspaper=[[The New Indian Express]]|date=26 August 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://swarajyamag.com/politics/when-tamil-nationalism-turned-against-telugu-speakers-of-tamil-nadu|title=When Tamil Nationalism Turned Against Telugu Speakers Of Tamil Nadu|access-date=2016-12-05}}</ref> is an Indian actor and politician. He was the [[Leader of the Opposition]] of the [[Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly]] from 2011 to 2016. Prior to becoming a politician, he was a [[film actor]] in [[Tamil cinema]] from 1979 to 2010. He is the founder and Leader of the [[Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam]] and served as a [[Member of Legislative Assembly]] representing the constituency of [[Rishivandiyam (State Assembly Constituency)|Rishivandiyam]].

Vijayakanth is one of the very few Tamil speaking actors to have acted only in Tamil movies throughout his career, though his movies have been dubbed into [[Telugu language|Telugu]] and [[Hindi language|Hindi]]. Many of his recent movies contain nationalist plots about a terrorist, corrupt Indian politician or a mafia don troubling the Indian people and Vijayakanth getting back at the troublemakers single-handedly. He is also famous for acting village oriented movies, many of them had huge success across Tamil Nadu. His first film was ''Inikkum Ilamai'' (1979) in role of villain. His subsequent films ''[[Agal Vilakku]]'' (1979), ''Neerottam'' (1980), ''Saamanthippoo'' (1980) were not commercially successful. He then had a success with ''[[Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam]]'' (1980) and ''[[Sattam Oru Iruttarai (1981 film)|Sattam Oru Iruttarai]]'' (1981) directed by [[S. A. Chandrasekhar]], most of his movies are with him. He is nicknamed "Captain" after the movie ''[[Captain Prabhakaran]]'' (1991) which was his 100th film and was a big hit.