His 1999 romantic drama Thulladha Manamum Thullum ran for 100 days in Kochi’s Padma Theatre, at a time when only Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth films could manage such a feat. Interestingly, this was also the case with mass entertainment films, like the ones Vijay was part of.”īut Vijay’s popularity in Kerala began even before the star assumed the role of a mass hero in the 2000s. Explicit caste-based narratives, violent gangster films and certain films with a rural rustic setting always worked better in Tamil.
For instance, there are certain films and genres, like Subramaniyapuram for instance, which Malayalis accept only in Tamil. “There has always been a Malayali viewership for Tamil films. But where did all this madness begin? How did a mass entertainer like Vijay manage to create such a hardcore following in a State famous for the arty films of Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Aravindan, Padmarajan and Bharathan? The Intro SceneĬS Venkiteswaran, National-Award winning film critic and historian, says Malayalis have traditionally shared a special admiration for the Tamil films of MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth. It was the handywork of the ‘Kollam Nanbans’, a fan group based out of southern Kerala’s Kollam district. Vijay in Kerala is far bigger than Vijay in TN.” (SIC)Īnd if that’s not proof enough, the star’s tallest cut-out (tallest in the world at the time), towering at a massive 175-feet, was not constructed for a theatre in Tamil Nadu.
Every time I talk to kids here I use my pic with Vijay as a trump card to make them listen to me and address their issues. He wrote, “Many Malayali kids and students in Wayanad do not understand Tamil. And its not just the politicians, Wayanad Sub-Collector Umesh Keshavan made news last year when his Facebook post spoke about the actor’s popularity among his district’s tribal children. Back in February, PC George, the MLA from Poonjar in Kottayam district, raised many eyebrows when he claimed during a television debate that Vijay had more fans in Kerala than Malayali megastars Mammootty and Mohanlal. The hashtag itself suggests that Kerala is Vijay’s (or Thalapathy/Commander as he is called) fortress, a market very few non-Malayali stars have been able to penetrate.īut his popularity isn’t limited to social media alone. So if Kaththi found a re-release in Palakkad, the town of Muvattupuzha, east of Kochi, got a special screening of Vijay’s 2012 blockbuster Thuppakki. A little digging and it became clear that the hashtag was part of a mega event to organise dozens of simultaneous screenings of the actor’s films across the State. A week before the 22nd of June, actor Vijay’s 45th birthday, the hashtag #ThalapathyFortKerala started trending across Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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