Vijay has already swapped movie sets for the chief minister’s office back in India. But in Auckland, one fan is preparing to send him off from cinema properly.

Sug Pathmanathan, a New Zealand-born Tamil businessman and lifelong Vijay follower, has booked an entire auditorium at Event Cinemas Westgate for a private screening of 'Jana Nayagan' on Thursday evening.

He plans to invite at least 200 clients and community members. The tickets are free, Pathmanathan says, in celebration of the Tamil community from across Asia now living in New Zealand.

According to various estimates, at least 12,000 New Zealanders speak Tamil.

'Jana Nayagan' was supposed to be Vijay’s grand farewell to cinema before he plunged into full-time politics. Instead, the farewell was late, as Vijay’s political career overtook it.

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As 'Jana Nayagan' became entangled in controversy and release delays earlier this year, Vijay went from actor-turned-political hopeful to Tamil Nadu chief minister.

The film, whose title translates as “People’s Leader”, will therefore arrive with its leading man already occupying the role in real life.

For Pathmanathan, that makes Thursday’s screening more than another opening-day celebration. “We wanted to host a premiere show for Vijay’s last movie,” he said.

“For my generation, his movies, his messages and his audio releases were always inspirational or motivational. They guided us through life in a way.”

Pathmanathan relationship with Tamil cinema began long before multiplexes regularly screened its biggest releases in New Zealand. His family moved to New Zealand from Sri Lanka in 1981.

Pathmanathan grew up watching Vijay and has been an ardent follower. “I’ve seen every single one of them,” he said.

Now, for what is billed as Vijay’s last, he is taking no chances with the guest list or the seating plan.

It is the first time Pathmanathan has booked a full cinema. He hopes the afternoon will include a cake, cut-outs showing Vijay in different film roles and short video messages from guests explaining what the actor has meant to them.

Those additions still require the cinema’s approval, but the intention is clear. This is less a routine screening than a community farewell. “We want to celebrate and enjoy it one last time,” Pathmanathan said.

The invite-only event will largely bring together clients of his mortgage-advice business, Legendary Mortgages & Insurances, and members of Auckland’s wider Tamil community.

Pathmanathan described the booking as both personal and a way of giving back to people who had supported the business. “It’s a passion, but it is also a way to relate to our client base and community,” he said.

He said Vijay’s following in New Zealand extended beyond Indian Tamils to include people with roots in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere.

That fan base, he said, had also been strengthened by the arrival of younger Tamil professionals, couples and families in Auckland. For many of them, Vijay has been more than the hero at the centre of an action sequence.

Pathmanathan said his generation had looked to the star’s films, speeches and public persona for lessons about perseverance, values and how to conduct their lives.

That attachment has followed Vijay into politics. “It gives you belief that we are making the right choices in terms of values and morals,” Pathmanathan said.

“There is an opportunity for people to be on the good side, no matter how hard the journey is.”

Vijay formally launched Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in 2024, but his political groundwork had begun much earlier.

His fan clubs were reorganised into the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam in 2009, developing into a neighbourhood welfare network involved in relief work, education support and local assistance.

That machinery helped give Vijay something few political newcomers possess. A ready-made organisation built around years of loyalty. His rise has invited comparisons with MG Ramachandran, the film idol who founded his own party and became Tamil Nadu chief minister in 1977.

Jana Nayagan had been scheduled for release in January this year but became caught in a dispute with India’s film classification authorities. Its producers went to court over the certification delay, while leaked scenes and reports of a pirated copy added another complication.

By the time the film finally secured its date with audiences, its original premise had been reversed.

It was made as the last film of a superstar preparing to become a politician. It will be released as the last film of a politician who has already become chief minister.

Pathmanathan had initially hoped to hold a first-day, first-show event. When the earliest New Zealand screening was moved to midday on Thursday, he kept his booking at 4.30pm so guests would have a better chance of attending around work.

For Auckland fans, the delay will amount to only a few hours. They have already waited months for the film – and years to see where Vijay’s journey would lead.