Fans and political-followers of 'Captain' Vijayakanth come together to celebrate his birthday on Saturday as 'Poverty Alleviation Day'.

Born as Vijayaraj in Madurai, Vijayakanth made his debut with Thoorathu Idi Muzhakkam.

Affectionately called as Captain after his blockbuster film Captain Prabhakaran, Vijayakanth has acted in 149 films and his 150th film Arasangam is all set to hit the floors very soon.

He made a successful foray to politics and his newly-floated Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam managed to make an impact in the last Assembly elections.

He won from Vridhachalam constituency which was considered a PMK stronghold. His party was able to secure around 8 per cent votes in its first election and in Local Election DMDK secured 17 per cent votes.

His DMDK party is remarkable for the fact that it did not align with any other party during elections.

Winner of several awards including Best Actor Filmfare Award for Amman Koyil Kizhakalae (1986), Best Actor Cinema Express Award (Poonthotta Kavalkaran), Kalaimamani Award by Tamilnadu Government (2001), Vijayakanth is a great philanthropist.

He has been involved in several charity works. Vijayakanth served as the President of Nadigar Sangam before entering politics and was instrumental in holding star nite shows in Dubai and Malaysia. He bailed out Nadigar Sangam from huge debts during his tenure.

Let's wish the actor-politician all the best in all his endeavors in both cinema and politics in the coming days.