Chasing Vijayakanth
What followed was a car chase that lasted an hour or so. We had the list of villages he would be visiting but by the time we reached a village, he would already have left.
We travelled through narrow, untarred, broken roads for a long time, and finally saw him addressing a crowd at a small village. I ran out and waved at him. He signalled us to follow him.
Now, we were part of his convoy, the first vehicle had the party workers who announced the arrival of the 'Dark MGR' in advance. The second was Vijayakanth's Tata Safari. It was followed by a police car, and then a police van. We were behind the police van. I saw another party vehicle behind us.
Before we reached the next village, Vijayakanth's vehicle stopped midway, and a man came running to us and said, "He is calling you."
He realised we were from the media. After ascertaining from where we were, he said, "We could talk right now." So, under a tree on the way to a village called Kanavai, Vijayakanth spoke exclusively to rediff.com
It was extremely hot, and he was sweating profusely. He sat inside the vehicle with the door open while we stood outside and flung questions at him.