With Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s party expanding its presence, attention has turned to some of his former co-stars. In a recent interview, actor Bineesh Bastin — who played a villain alongside Vijay in Theri — was asked directly whether he might stand for Vijay’s party in Kerala. His answer was firm.
“I am a comrade,” Bineesh said. “I will remain a comrade until my death.” He explained that his loyalty to the Left is personal and rooted in his upbringing — his father was a CITU member who supported the family through manual labour — and that he feels a lasting debt to that ideology, which rules out joining another political movement.
Gratitude to Vijay
Politics aside, Bineesh was warm about Vijay. He recalled that before his break he survived on tile-laying work and minor roles as a junior artist, and that people doubted him when he first said he had acted in a Vijay film, since he had no photos to show early in the shoot. He noted the turn his life has taken since: he has now been a guest at more than 175 colleges — including places where he once laid tiles. “It was only because I acted in Vijay Sir’s film that I was invited to shows like Star Magic,” he said, adding that Vijay had personally told him his life would change after the film.
That association, he said, took him from a second-hand bike to his first car — which he decorated with Vijay’s photo — and he credits his financial stability to that 20-day shoot. While he won’t join Vijay politically, he continues to regard the actor as the turning point in his career.
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