Thalapathy Vijay's Big Exit: What's Next For Tamil Cinema?

Tamil actor Vijay, one of the top-celebrated stars in Kollywood, will bid goodbye to films after the completion of his current projects. He has decided to foray into politics after announcing his party 'Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam' in February, this year,

Currently, Vijay is working on his 68th film, 'Greatest Of All Time', which he considers his debt of gratitude to the people of Tamil Nadu. He states that he wants a party that is not based on caste or religion, but on humanity, which significantly factors in a grand improvement in the political field, but what impact will Thalapathy Vijay's absence from cinema bring?

Rubaan Mathivanan, the Managing Director of GK Cinemas, expresses his distress towards this unforeseen change to the cinematic world. "I see it as a big damage to the film business," he says. "It is shocking to see him call it quits at the peak of his career. With two films a year, he easily brings Rs 300 to 400 crore to the film industry." He adds, "Coming to the Tamil Nadu theatrical collection, his films easily make Rs 75 to 80 crore share. And I don't see any other actor who has such a big pull as Vijay does."

Bringing in Film producer Dhananjayan, a notable contributor to Tamil cinema. He comments, "His absence will create a vacuum. But, I feel the industry will keep moving because it is not dependent on a select group of stars. There will be a blip initially, and the market will slowly bounce back."

While important figures like Ramesh Bala, film distributor Tirupur Subramaniam, and Dhananjayan argue that Kollywood will recover, with new heroes paving their ways into Tamil cinema, Rubaan Mathivanan counters their statements by concluding, "The era of big heroes is truly over. The hero worship culture has come to an end. I don't see any actor now who can match up to the craze our stars had." He adds, "Coming to Vijay, we still don't know if he will return, but I wish him the best."