Published Jul 21, 2026 | 11:18 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 21, 2026 | 11:18 AM
A fake, AI-generated video showed Vijay sitting in solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
In his previous avatar as a tinsel hero, Vijay would have single-handedly fought and resolved the Cockroach Janata Party’s (CJP) issues—leaving his mostly dimwitted sidekick in awe.
In the real world, however, the filmi antics that made gallons of milk flow down his fan-made cutouts outside movie halls won’t work. The movie star knows well—and is aware of the thorny path that Vijay took to become C Joseph Vijay, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu.
His fans are made of a different material, and all of them may not have the shrewdness that makes a politician. Their thoughts and hopes are straight and simple. Such hopes may still push them into a dreamy world where their hero, with superhuman strength and intelligence, successfully flexes his muscles for a larger cause, with a pretty, starry-eyed damsel by his side.
If the fans too are standing for the same cause, they would like to see their hero fighting for them.
Thanks to technology, fans can now create what they want to see. And someone did it and caused a flutter in Tamil Nadu.
It began with an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated video that circulated on social media. It showed Vijay with climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been relentlessly fighting for the rights of students and youth.
There was another video, equally fake, which said Vijay would meet Wangchuk on 20 July, a big day for CJP, a two-month-old satirical political movement that raised relevant, contemporary issues, and caught the attention of the entire nation and the world.
The viral videos’ impact was immediate. Chests in Tamil Nadu swelled collectively with pride. Debates started. They were all sure that their hero was going to lend support to CJP, a cause they also supported.
Additionally, Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s statement that Phunsukh Wangdu in 3 Idiots (set for a 4 September re-release) was not based on the life of Wangchuk, a claim the now-hospitalised innovator-activist, too, had backed.
Comment sections of the videos went berserk. Paens were many. “The best Chief Minister,” “a true leader,” they crooned.
Behind the scenes, Chief Minister Vijay, apparently, had no such Jantar Mantar plans. He was quietly going on with his business, and providing tidbits of information for public consumption through social media—not the mainstream media.
Now, what about those chests that swelled with pride? Vijay hasn’t disappointed them. They will have reasons to swell again. If not Vijay, social media will give them enough reasons.
After all, fans (and propagandists) now have AI, don’t they?
