'Captain' Vijayakanth celebrated his 71st birthday on Friday, August 25, and countless fans gathered at his residence to witness and wish the iconic Tamil actor-politician. The birthday celebrations this year, however, were mired with reports of his health condition declining after his elder son Vijaya Prabhakaran addressed the press earlier this week. During the media interaction, Vijaya Prabhakaran stated that there was a setback in his father and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) leader's health while adding that he was feeling super. The statements went on to be not interpreted properly leading to some confusion, with Vijayakanth's wife Premalatha later raising a question about it at his birthday celebrations. In that light, Premalatha along with Vijaya Prabhakaran sat down with Galatta for an exclusive interview to speak about Vijayakanth's health and said, "I spoke at the press meet about this. The first question I asked the media at Captain's birthday celebrations was why are they projecting it in a wrongful manner. They asked me in return why I was laying the wrong focus on them since they only reported my son's statements. Yes, my son said that there is a setback in Captain's health, but why wasn't the next statement mentioned? He said that his health took a setback, but he's now feeling super. Why wasn't that highlighted? By using the word 'setback', it became viral on television, print, and on YouTube."
Premalatha further stated, "We know how Captain is since we're with him all the time. We don't have any fear. But, you witnessed yourself how fans and cadres from various places came to see him. Who will give them the news? How much panic must have gotten into them? We have been receiving non-stop phone calls. Can we explain to each and every person about Captain's health condition? And, that is why he himself issued a clarification that he's healthy and will meet his cadres while requesting everyone to not believe in any rumors. But, no media or channels focused on that. If there's a small minus, they're grabbing onto that. And, that is why I asked the media that question. I understand the news has to go viral. Their job is done after that. But, as a family and a representative of a political party, how can we answer to a cadre at the back end? If that person ends up doing something to himself/herself, who will be answerable?"
Explaining how there are representatives at the DMDK office to address queries about Vijayakanth's health, Premalatha stated, "All I'm saying is there are 10-20 persons at our party office. Kindly call our head office and ask us about Captain and we will give a reply. If you go and watch my son's interview, he'll state clearly about Captain's health and say that there was a setback, but he's in a super condition now. He doesn't know how to fake his words or speak lies." She added, "Instead of saying Captain isn't like he used to be before, he used the word 'setback'. What's wrong with that? Can Captain jump and fight like he used to before? You all saw at his birthday celebrations that he sat, greeted everyone, and bid everyone farewell properly despite the hot climate. Nobody understands how such things leave us hurt. Captain is a legend. I'll state this confidently that the reason for his downfall has been due to projecting him in such a wrong manner."
Watch Premalatha Vijayakanth speak about 'Captain' Vijayakanth in the video below: