Vijay’s Political Rise Mirrors His Blockbuster Career Built on Telugu Remakes

With Tamil superstar Vijay emerging as a major political force in Tamil Nadu, famed writer Gopi Mohan says the actor’s remarkable cinematic journey has been given a significant boost from the successful Telugu remakes that have turned him into a mass hero in South India.

“Vijay has created a huge political wave in Tamil Nadu and looks set to enter a completely new arena. We wish him the best,” says Gopi Mohan. “Just as he carefully built his cinema career step by step, he also approaches politics with the same confidence and mass appeal.”

According to the author, Telugu cinema played a crucial role in Vijay’s rise to superstardom. “Vijay has to thank Telugu stories for his meteoric rise and the efforts of Tamil directors who presented him brilliantly on the big screen,” he says. “He started his successful phase with films like Priyamaanavale, Youth and Badri, which were the remakes of Telugu hits Pavitra Bandham, Chirunavvutho and Badri. These films helped him expand his fan base steadily.”

Gopi Mohan believes that Vijay took a big leap forward in his career when he adapted Mahesh Babu’s blockbuster Telugu films Okkadu and Pokiri into Tamil as Ghilli and Pokkiri.

“Both Vijay and Mahesh Babu were from the same generation and had immense mass appeal. Vijay wisely chose Telugu commercial entertainers that blended action, romance and emotion, whereas Mahesh largely stayed away from remakes. This strategy worked wonders for Vijay,” he explains.

Interestingly, the remake shift has also benefited Telugu stars. Pawan Kalyan scored hits by remaking Vijay’s song Love Today as Suswagatham and Sivakasi as Annavaram. Similarly, Nagarjuna Akkineni achieved success with Nuvvu Vastavani, the remake of Vijay’s Thulladha Manamum Thullum.

“Yet, Vijay consistently relied on Telugu stories at crucial stages of his rise and turned them into huge commercial successes,” notes Gopi Mohan.

Over the years, Vijay has also created a strong market in Telugu states through direct and dubbed releases like Thuppakki, Master and Leo. “Today, his films are comfortably collecting more than ₹22 crore share in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. With Jana Nayagan, which is reportedly inspired by Telugu hit Bhagavanth Kesari, it could easily cross the ₹25 crore mark, though it is still slightly behind Rajinikanth’s market in the Telugu region,” he concludes.