An Indian superstar-turned-politician is at the centre of a massive row after 40 people died in a crush at his party's rally on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of people turned up at the campaign event held by Vijay in Karur district in Tamil Nadu state. The actor was in the middle of his speech when the crowd surged suddenly.
The tragedy has sparked a blame game, with the opposition accusing government officials of not deploying enough police personnel to control crowds.
Police officials have said that the rally's organisers, who are from Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party, underestimated the anticipated crowd size and did not take enough precautions.
Who is Vijay?
With an acting career spanning decades, 51-year-old Vijay is one of the most popular actors in Tamil Nadu.
Over the years, he has worked his way up to becoming one of the most bankable stars, with even films panned by critics becoming massive box-office hits.
Born Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar to a film director father and singer mother, he acted in several films as a child.
Vijay first played the hero in 1992's Naalaiya Theerpu, directed by his father. The film, about a group of college students taking on a corrupt businessman, was a flop but as the news website Scroll put it, it sowed the seeds of Vijay's carefully crafted screen persona as the man with the solution to Tamil Nadu's problems.
He then appeared in several romances and comedies - many of them box-office hits - and became a familiar face for audiences. His smooth dance moves in particular won him many fans.
Over the past few years, even films that received bad critical reviews, such as Beast (2022) and The Greatest of All Time (2024), have become box-office hits. After the success of Beast, the Indian Express wrote that Vijay's stardom has reached a point where even his most unimaginative, unoriginal and unamusing movie could bring in global box office receipts of upwards of 2bn rupees ($22.5m; £16.7m).
Why did he join politics?
There had been speculation around Vijay's political entry for years - a fan club he launched gave a creditable performance in the 2021 local elections. He had also made several statements over the years that were interpreted as having political undertones.
But his decision to quit acting to enter full-time politics still took fans by surprise. He has announced that Jana Nayagan, set to release early next year, will be his last film.
It's common for film stars in India's southern states to join politics, leveraging their popularity to gain electoral success. Yet not all political efforts have yielded positive results.
Crushes at political rallies are common in India, often leading to blame games between the organisers and authorities. In this case, Vijay's fans allege that his party was denied permission to hold the event at a safer venue.
State officials deny this, claiming the venue was approved by the party. A one-member commission of enquiry has been set up to investigate the cause of the crush, with Chief Minister MK Stalin promising action on the report within two months.
Amidst this turmoil, calls have been made for Vijay's arrest, but his immense popularity has made the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government cautious in how they proceed. As investigations continue, it remains uncertain how this will impact Vijay's future political aspirations.
