Fans click pictures of huge banners of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay placed outside Mukunda Cinemas on Dodda Banaswadi Main Road in Bengaluru, ahead of the release of his movie ‘Jana Nayagan’
| Photo Credit: J. ALLEN EGENUSE
As Jana Nayagan gears up for release this Thursday (July 23, 2026), perhaps the last in actor Vijay’s repertoire, as he is busy as Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, let us leap back in time. The year 1992 was drawing to a close, and on December 2, Mr. Vijay’s maiden venture as a solo hero Naalaiya Theerpu was released.As an 18-year-old pursuing B.Sc (Visual Communication) in Loyola College, this was Mr. Vijay’s moment to shed his previous child-artiste image and carve a fresh path. Many in the institution were aware that he was director S.A. Chandrasekhar’s son, and in a college with alumni like Vikram and Arvind Swamy, stardust and glitter seemed inevitable.Naalaiya Theerpu, helmed by Mr. Chandrasekhar, did not set the box office on fire. Even as the audience response remained muted, Mr. Vijay was noticed, and he won the Best New Face Actor award from Cinema Express. At Loyola, where he walked into the canteen for a swig of cold drink, he had a close circle of fans-cum-fellow-students hanging around.However, this was not a lad trying to exude charisma. Reticent and comfortable only with his inner group, Mr. Vijay tried to blend into the shadows. There was obviously some excitement in the ranks as a fellow college boy was stepping into celluloid, but at that point, he seemed immune to the buzz.
