Chennai: Tamil super star ‘Thalapathy’ Vijay is celebrating his 49th birthday today (on Thursday) amid speculation rife over his imminent political entry.
Vijay is one of the highest paid actors of India with rumours of him getting paid a whopping Rs 150 crore for a movie, much more than several of his contemporaries.
The fans of Vijay under the umbrella organisation, Thalapathy Vijay Makkal Iyyakam (TVMI) have organised several welfare activities across the state to celebrate his birthday.
Of late, Vijay has been active in social life and recently conducted a mass connect programme by inviting first three toppers of Class 10 and Class 12 board exams in each constituency of Tamil Nadu.
He paid a gift cheque, a memento and other gifts to the toppers and also felicitated their parents with shawls.
The actor was seen mingling with the children and their parents, and he preferred to sit among the children and parents instead of sitting on the dais.
The programme held on June 17 at Chennai was a big hit and Vijay spoke extensively during the function calling upon the children to advise their parents not to take money for vote and that vote was a powerful harbinger for change.
The superstar also evoked the memories of Tamil icons like Periyar, Ambedkar and Kamaraj and called upon the students to read about everything, especially on Tamil icons.
Vijay will be seen next in the movie ‘Leo’ directed by Logesh Kanagaraj who has produced hit movies like ‘Vikram’, ‘Master’. The film will be released in October, 2023 and the shoot was held in Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said that the AIADMK government of Jayalalithaa had banned his movie ‘Thalaivaa’ for having the tag line – ‘Born to Lead’ as she was “offended” by it, and because of Vijay’s political aspirations.
After the June 17 show of Vijay, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) had said that movie stars entering politics has been a “curse for the state”.
–IANS