Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami Naidu (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. Before entering politics Vijayakanth was a successful actor, producer and director. Vijayakanth is also the current DMDK chairman of Tamil Nadu legislative assembly. He is the founder and president, general secretary of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) Political party and served as a Member of Legislative Assembly twice representing the constituency of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively. Personal life Vijayakanth was born as Vijayaraj Alagarswami Naidu in Madurai to a Telugu-Speaking Family on 25 August 1952. his parents are K. N. Alagarswami Naidu and Aandal Azhagarswami. He married Premalatha on 31 January 1990 and has two sons named Vijaya Prabhakaran and Shanmuga Pandian, an actor who starred in Sagaptham (2015) and Madura Veeran (2018). Acting career Vijayakanth is one of very few Tamil actors to have acted only in Tamil films throughout his career. His films have mostly been dubbed into Telugu and Hindi. Vijayakanth, had the title "Puratchi Kalaignar" (revolutionary artist) in the film industry. He is also known for portraying a patriotic, village do-gooder and dual role acting in his films. Many refused to play with him and great filmmakers did not show up to make films. He has acted in more than 20 films as a police officer. He is best known for low-budget films that showcased gravity-defying stunts in which he would single-handedly dispatch his enemies. Most of his films revolved around corruption, honesty and keeping up promises. He worked 3 shifts per day and that was his dedication towards his craft. Vijayakanth took delayed remunerations and sometimes didn't take them at all to benefit the struggling producers. More importantly, he didn't try to publicize these and had let the world see it for themselves and take inspiration. Upon entering the film industry to pursue an acting career, he changed to "Vijayakanth", dropping the "Raj" out of his name and suffixing it with "Kanth," by his first film M. A. Kaja's Inikkum Ilamai (1979). He then had success with Sattam Oru Iruttarai (1981), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar; with whom he did movies mostly. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was an action icon with a consistent box-office appeal. He