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Happy Birthday Vijay, the reigning numero uno of Tamil cinema

Every generation finds their own superstar, and looks like Vijay is turning out to be the one currently.

Vijay in Leo promoVijay is celebrating his 49th birthday today.
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“Indha number one… number two ellam paapa vilaiyaatu. I am the only one. The super one. No comparison. Understand?” says Rajinikanth as the Bad Chitti in 2.0. That’s the answer to the debates that arise now and then about the numero uno of the Tamil film industry. When Ajith once claimed that he wants to become the next superstar, it immediately landed him in trouble. The actor was criticised and called proud. Later, he said that if someone wants to become a superstar, it should be met with encouragement and not be put down. Similarly, Silambarasan has faced criticism for using titles such as ‘Little Superstar’ and ‘Young Superstar’. It has been a sensitive topic in Tamil cinema, especially for Rajinikanth fans, who are sure that the title will belong to their idol forever.

“In Bollywood or other film industries, any hero who has a great opening and box office collection that is best in the industry is referred to as a superstar. However, that has not been the case with Tamil cinema where it is like the title is patented for Rajinikanth. Here, it is determined by who has the best hit ratio and opening collection. When you consider that, in Tamil cinema’s current generation, Vijay is the numero uno, undeniably. Consecutively, his films have done well,” says Rajasekar, a Tamil film trade analyst.

However, Vijay is yet to beat the record of Rajinikanth’s 2.o, which is still considered to be the biggest box office hit in Tamil. But the debate is that 2.0 was not marketed as a Tamil film, but a pan-Indian project. On the other hand, Vijay’s Varisu, which received middling reviews from both the audience and critics, went on to collect Rs 60 crore just from Tamil Nadu, and its worldwide collection hovers around Rs 310 crore, which is easily far ahead of the biggest hits of Rajinikanth in recent times like Petta and Annaatthe.

An owner of a popular theatre in Chennai, who didn’t want to be named, said, “There’s no doubt Vijay is now dominating the industry, and people don’t give Superstar title because it will lead to controversy. Though things are not spelt out, everyone knows who is at the top currently in Tamil cinema. It is not for no reason Vijay gets paid a lot more than other stars currently.”

In 1999, Rajinikanth turned 49 and a few months before his birthday, he had one of the biggest releases of Tamil cinema, Padayappa. It was the time when there was a huge expectation among the fans that he would make his foray into politics. Only in 1996, he announced his support for DMK and said, “If Jayalalithaa is elected again, even god can’t save Tamil Nadu.” DMK won the election with a huge margin. Vijay has turned 49, and the debate now is whether or not he will enter politics. His recent statements, at an event to honour the top rank holders of 12th and 10th standards from every constituency in Tamil Nadu, have added fuel to the fire. Perhaps, it’s true that history has a habit of repeating itself.

That’s not the only similarity between Vijay and Rajinikanth. When asked what makes Vijay work well with the masses of Tamil Nadu, senior film journalist Sreedhar Pillai, who admits that he is the numero uno of the industry currently, says, “He looks like a common man. The goosebumps moments he provides on the big screen. He is also good at comedy. He is a proper commercial mix. These are traits that he shares with Rajinikanth.”

However, Pillai says it is too soon to call him a superstar. “No. Never. It has nothing to do with box office figures. Rajinikanth is an emotion. Vijay is currently marketed at a high price, and there have been stars like him before right from Ranjan days (an old Tamil hero who made his debut in 1941). Then we had MG Ramachandran and people like Jai Shankar, who were highly successful. Then came Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth era. They have all attained legendary status. With Vijay, yes, his last two films have set records in terms of collection. He has a huge market overseas and in Kerala. The satellite and other rights for his films are sold at a much higher price than all other heroes. It could just be only a phase. He is young and has a long way to get to the legendary status. Maybe, he will pull it off in the future.”

Kirubhakar Purushothaman is a Principal Correspondent with Indian Express and is based out of Chennai. He has been writing about Tamil cinema and a bit about OTT content for the past eight years across top media houses. Like many, he is also an engineer-turned-journalist from Tamil Nadu, who chose the profession just because he wanted to make cinema a part of his professional life.   ... Read More

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