THALAPATHY AMONG EQUALS

Mass following led to Vijay's rise as India's highest paid actor, so why is he not seen much in ads?

- SHINEJACOB

Between 2000 and 2003, when an up-and-coming actor named Joseph Vijay first became the brand ambassador for Coca-Cola in Tamil Nadu, for the "Coke Kudi da" (roughly meaning “drink Coke”) campaign, he earned in lakhs for each movie. By 2009, when Coca-Cola wanted Vijay again, he was earning about ₹8 crore a movie. This time, naturally, Coke had to shell out much more for him.

Fifteen years on, in 2024, Vijay is a bonafide superstar. More specifically, he is the highest-paid actor in India and possibly in all of Asia, going by his reported fee of ₹275 crore for Thalapathy 69, his upcoming movie. And he is popularly known as Thalapathy, meaning commander, or leader — a term of respect and affection in the south of the country.

Intriguingly, while still at the top of his game, Vijay has announced that he will retire as actor after Thalapathy 69. After that, the 50-year-old will focus on a career in politics, which he has embarked on by launching his party, Thamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK).

That makes it a good time to examine the rise of Vijay, why his remuneration increased 33-fold in 15 years, and what makes him worth all the money he makes.

SRK, Rajini Sir

Some of the answers, say industry experts, lie in Vijay’s following among the masses in all four South Indian states, especially in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Despite receiving bad reviews from critics and even his own fans, his latest movie, The Greatest of All Time (GOAT), has collected ₹413 crore in 13 days since it was released on September 5.