'Thuppakki' to 'Sarkar': Five times when 'Master' actor Vijay handled controversies with a calm demeanor

Press, media, and the public focus will always be there on top actors in the industry. Actor Vijay is one of them. He has grown as a big star in South Indian cinema with his movies doing outstandingly well at the box office. But with fame come controversies. And Vijay has been facing a lot of them in the past few years. He has made headlines for his controversial speeches as well as some dialogues in his films in the past. But the actor has never lost is cool in public and handled each situation with an utmost calm demeanor. And this is why fans like him even more.

Currently, Vijay is under an investigation from the Income Tax department and it’s been more than 24 hours now that the inquiry is still underway. As fans wait for the actor to come out of the controversy with a clean image, we look at the five times, from 'Thuppaki' to 'Master', when the actor handled controversies in a calm way.

Since the release of the first look poster of 'Thuppakki', actor Vijay and the director of the film AR Murugadoss had faced many problems during the release. The first look poster, where Vijay was featured smoking, was criticised by political leaders, and they condemned Vijay for it. Some Muslim associations even objected against the story of the film for portraying Muslims as terrorists before the release of the film. But Vijay handled all the issues without any outrageous behaviour on his part and later watched 'Thuppaki' turn into a blockbuster hit.

'Thalaivaa', the gangster drama which was directed by AL Vijay, features Vijay and Amala Paul in lead roles. The title of the film 'Thalaivaa' with the subtitle 'Time To Lead' had become a huge topic of discussion as many claimed that the story of the film politically provocative. The party which was ruling the Tamil Nadu government at the time tried to pressurise Vijay in various ways and banned the film from being released in the state. But the film released in other parts of the country and world, a week later in Tamil Nadu as well, after Vijay sorted out the issues with the government. This was a major setback for the film, and it caused the film to face financial losses.

'Puli' was a fantasy-adventure film which was produced by Shibu Thammeens in association with PT Selva Kumar (Manager of actor Vijay). Income Tax officials had raided Vijay and the producers' properties just a day before the release of the film and continued the inquiry till the release day. They allowed the film to be released only after they had completed the investigation, which made the theater owners cancel the morning shows of the film on the first day. But Vijay came clear from the investigation, and the film released from the noon shows.

The film, which was directed by Atlee, had marked the director's second collaboration with actor Vijay. The story of the film, which spoke about the medical scam happening in the country, had raised controversies about the film. Particularly, actor Vijay's dialogue where he questioned the government on why they did not provide free medical treatment, was heavily opposed by the ruling central party. The party supporters also accused Vijay for negative propaganda about the government and protested against the actor and the film.

First look poster of 'Sarkar' was released featuring Vijay who is smoking. This created a big controversy among politicians. After being criticised by politicians for the smoking picture, the actor removed it from his social media handle. Apart from that, government officials were also disappointed with a few dialogues and the mention of Varalakshmi in the film and they tried to stop the movie from being released. But, actor Vijay met with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and cleared the problems for a smooth release.