Vijayaraj Alagarswami (25 August 1952 – 28 December 2023), known by his stage name Vijayakanth, was an Indian actor, filmmaker, philanthropist and politician. He worked in Tamil cinema in a career spanning four decades. He ventured into politics in the later part of his career and founded his own party Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam.

Vijayakanth acted in over 150 films in his career. Some of his popular films include Vaidehi Kathirunthal (1984), Amman Kovil Kizhakale (1986), Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran (1988), Senthoora Poove (1988), Pulan Visaranai (1990), Chinna Gounder (1992), Honest Raj (1994), Thayagam (1996), Vaanathaippola (2000) and Ramanaa (2002). He was nicknamed "Captain" following his role in the film Captain Prabhakaran (1991). He was also credited as "Puratchi Kalaignar" (revolutionary artist) in the film titles as he often appeared in roles as a law enforcer, vigilante, or a village head. He won two Filmfare Awards South, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and was awarded the Kalaimamani title in 2001.

Vijayakanth served as the president of the Nadigar Sangam (actors association) from 2000 to 2006. He is credited with bringing the association out of debt and establishing a charitable trust that paid pension to low-income members of the film industry. He was likened to former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran for his humanitarian work and for his role in supporting impoverished personnel from the Tamil film industry. He accepted deferred remuneration for certain films to help struggling film producers and also preached for food equality on film sets, demanding that all the crew members must be given the same quality meals that he was served.

After founding his own party in 2005, he served as a Member of Legislative Assembly for two terms from 2006 to 2016, representing the constituencies of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively. He led his party to win the second-most seats in the 2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election and served as the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2016. He remained as the leader of his party until his death in 2023. He was known for his "open and bold stance" during his political career. In January 2024, he was posthumously awarded India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, by the Government of India.

Vijayakanth was born as Vijayaraj Alagarswami in Madurai on 25 August 1952. His parents were K. N. Alagarswami and Aandal. Vijayakanth grew up idolising M. G. Ramachandran and displayed passion towards community and societal issues. During his young age, his father was concerned about Vijayakanth as he showed less interest towards studies and was more interested in cinema. His father ran a rice mill at Keeraithurai where Vijayakanth went on to work and surprised him with his administrative skills.

Vijayakanth married Premalatha on 31 January 1990 and had two sons. His son Shanmuga Pandian is also an actor.

In 1978, Vijayakanth engaged in a photo shoot in Rasi Studios in Madurai with the aim of acting in films, which helped him garner attention. He later gave credit to the chief photographer R. Asaithambi, indicating that the photographs eventually helped him earn a spot in the film industry. Vijayakanth traveled to Chennai to pursue his passion in acting, even though he did not have any cinematic background. He was cast in a supporting role as Rajnikanth's younger brother in En Kelvikku Enna Bathil (1978) by the director P. Madhavan, for which he received an advance of ₹100 (equivalent to ₹2,700 or US$32 in 2023). However, he was later replaced by Ceylon Manohar after the director was unimpressed with Vijayakanth's acting. He claimed to have lost several film opportunities during the early stages of his acting career largely due to his darker complexion. In 1979, Vijayakanth made his first film appearance in M. A. Kaja's Inikkum Ilamai (1979), when he was first credited with his screen name "Vijayakanth". The film was a critical and commercial failure. Though his subsequent films Agal Vilakku (1979), Neerottam (1980) and Samanthipoo (1980) also did not perform well at the box office, his film Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam was screened at the International Film Festival of India. The later film was lauded by viewers and became a turning point in his career.

In the next few years, Vijayakanth often portrayed the character of an angry young man in films with revolutionary story lines such as Sivappu Malli (1981) and Jadhikkoru Needhi (1981). He became a popular commercial hero after his role in Sattam Oru Iruttarai (1981), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar, with whom he collaborated in numerous films thereafter. The film became a hit and was remade in several other Indian languages. He played the villain in Om Shakti (1982), which was his last antagonist part in a film. His subsequent commercial films included Dowry Kalyanam (1983), Nooravathu Naal (1984) and Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal (1984), which became successes. He became lead actor to appear in the most films in 1984. He acted in Annai Bhoomi (1985), the first 3D film made in the Tamil film industry, alongside Radha Ravi and Tiger Prabhakar. He co-starred with Vishnuvardhan in Eetti (1985) and acted in the commercially successful romantic comedy Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri (1985). He went on to act in Amman Kovil Kizhakale (1986), which earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil; the film ran for 150 days in theatres. In 1986, he appeared in Manakanakku, the only film in which he worked alongside Kamal Haasan.