Barricades, broken promises, phone curbs: Inside Vijay’s TVK Iftaar party in Poonjeeri

ABuzzing Iftaar organised by TVK and busloads of cadres flipped the playscript for the sleepy-eyed coastal ithiel town of Poonjeeri close Mahabalipuram on process 18 evening.It it obvious that Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), still reeling from the near-mythical chaos of its inaugural Iftaar held at the YMCA grounds in Royapettah, bang in the middle of Chennai, hoped that this nondescript town in the middle of nowhere, would absorb the frenzy of the fans-turned-cadres.The inaugural event had turned into a logistical nightmare for the police.Party cadres noted that the second iteration was significantly more organised than the Chennai debut, a shift partially attributed to the choice of venue and the ample parking space.Not willing to take a chance, Aadhav Arjuna, general secretary of TVK's election campaign management, had also spent a considerable time schooling those seated for Iftaar on how they should behave:"Don't get up from your seats; pay respect to the occasion; if you have a phone on you -- they were expected to leave the phones outside -- don't take it out to make selfies or reels."All that worked to an extent. As long as Vijay prayed, the crowd prayed too. But as the actor was about to leave, a frenzy gripped the crowd and people started pushing each other to get close to him.Things were not that different in the separate enclosure that seated women and children. The women could barely contain themselves and all wanted to take a spot near the opening of the enclosure.Saira, a fan-turned-cadre from Villupuram, who attended both the events, recalled that during the previous year's gathering, the enthusiasm to see "Thalapathy" was so intense that women tore down the barricades separating them from the men's section.This year, organisers attempted to "manage" by promising women that Vijay would visit them after the prayers, provided they remained orderly.While this strategy maintained decorum for much of the evening, just like in the main hall, the arrangement collapsed toward the end of the event; once it became evident the actor would not be entering the enclosure, women rushed out towards the star.Some realised that there was no way they were going to get through the crowd, men were already at the forefront trying to push their way closer to the star. So, they did the next best thing: whipped out the phone that they kept hidden until now and rushed to the giant screen relaying the event and started to film that, zooming tightly on the actor to make it look like they were shooting live.The pressure of the swelling crowd was felt early on at the entrance, prompting TVK general secretary Bussy Anand to announce that the event was restricted to the Muslim community in an eleventh-hour attempt to contain the jostling masses.This announcement stood in contrast to the party's earlier outreach, as invitations had been widely distributed to the public regardless of religious affiliation.Despite the tighter management, the evening ultimately demonstrated the persistent challenge the fledgling party faces in balancing its political outreach with the sheer scale of its leader's stardom.This perhaps was best seen in the case of Yasmin Naina Mohammed, a lawyer from Neyveli, and state joint secretary of the party.One of the organisers, Yasmin, was strict with the women initially, not even letting them get up from their places.As people waited for the star to come, she regaled the gathered women with stories about how she has seen the Thalapathy up close "more than 10 times", her tone so flippant that one would think if not for work, she wouldn't take a selfie with the star.And yet, when Vijay walked into the venue, she drifted towards the very edge of the enclosure that she kept others from, craning her head for a better view of him, as if she couldn't help herself.A mother of two that was pestering her just a while ago, who was told in no uncertain terms that she should not leave her seat no matter what, inched her way next to her.The two stood there for better part of the evening, giggling like co-conspirators.