Poonjeeri: The coastal town of Poonjeeri was swept up in excitement on the evening of March 18 as Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) hosted its second Iftar, featuring actor-turned-politician Vijay. The event, carefully managed on paper, quickly turned into a scene of controlled chaos.

After last year’s inaugural Iftar at Chennai’s YMCA grounds descended into logistical mayhem, organisers chose a more spacious Poonjeeri venue to contain the crowd. Attendees were briefed on strict rules: remain seated, respect the ceremony, and keep phones hidden. TVK’s general secretary for campaign management, Aadhav Arjuna, emphasised that no selfies or reels should be taken.

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For much of the evening, the plan held. Vijay led prayers and the crowd followed. Yet as the event drew to a close, barriers and rules were ignored. Men surged forward to get closer to the star, while women in a separate enclosure attempted to approach him despite organisers’ promises that Vijay would visit them if they stayed seated. When it became clear he would not, many turned to their hidden phones, filming the giant screen relaying the event as a workaround.

The frenzy prompted TVK General Secretary Bussy Anand to restrict entry to the Muslim community in a last-minute bid to control the crowd, a sharp contrast to the party’s earlier open invitations.

Even party officials could not escape the star’s pull. Yasmin Naina Mohammed, TVK state joint secretary, initially disciplined attendees in the women’s section but later drifted toward the enclosure’s edge to glimpse Vijay, joined by other women who had been instructed to stay seated.

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The evening highlighted TVK’s ongoing struggle to balance political outreach with the irresistible appeal of its leader. Barricades, broken promises, and hidden phones captured the tension between careful organisation and the sheer enthusiasm of Vijay’s devoted supporters.