Vijay hits back

Ilaiyathalapathy Vijay has hit back at his detractors within the industry by doing two films simultaneously, and planning to start a third film by August.

All this is his silent response to get back at "vested interests" who are trying to put a ban on his films. After the failure of Sura, the theatre's association in the NSC area (North and South Arcot and Chengalpet) of Tamil Nadu recently announced that they wanted the actor to take "moral responsibility for the failure of Sura".

They wanted the actor to refund at least 40 per cent of the amount that they had paid as MG (Minimum Guarantee).

A spokesperson of the Chengalpet-Kanchipuram Theatre Association, said, "All recent Vijay films, including the latest Sura have been failures. We had lost crores earlier paying MG's by screening Azhagiya Thamizh Magan, Kuruvi, Villu, and Vettaikkaran and now, Sura is a washout. Superstars like Rajinikanth and Kamal Hassan had compensated us when their films bombed. If he is not willing to pay cash as compensation, Vijay can do a film for us to make up for the losses."

Now, Vijay, instead of getting into a slanging match with exhibitors and distributors, has quietly begun work on two films. For nearly a decade after he became a superstar, Vijay has been doing only one film at a time, and having a release once in a year. Now, the actor is working on two films — Kavalkaran and Velayutham — simultaneously and will also start work on the Tamil remake of 3 Idiots.

Says Siddique, who's directing the actor for Kavalkaran, "We are now shooting the college campus scenes of the film with Vijay and Asin in Vellore and after this schedule, nearly 70 percent of the film will be complete. It is going to be a different type of Vijay entertainer, which is sure to be lapped up by the family audiences."

On Sunday, Hansika Motwani flew down to Chennai from Mumbai to do a photo shoot with the star at a studio in Saligramam, for producer Aascar Ravichandran's Jayam Raja directed Velayutham. The film is rumoured to be a remake of Nagarjuna's Telugu hit Azad (released way back in 2000), which was inspired from Amitabh Bachchan's 1989 flop Main Azad Hoon, which was in turn a carbon copy of Frank Capra's 1941 classic Meet John Doe! Vijay will have two heroines — Genelia and Hansika — in the film and will play a fictitious `man of the masses' created by a female journalist. For the first time ever, Harris Jayaraj will provide music for a Vijay film.

The producer of Velayutham, Aascar Ravichandran, is veteran producer and distributor who controls more than 30 screens in NSC area, and has a proven track record with hits like Anniyan and Dasavatharam. Remember, it was Ravichandran who made Vijay a superstar when he took over the marketing of Kadhalukku Mariyadhai in 1996. A source close to Vijay said, "Vijay sir is reworking his mass hero image to suit the taste of family audiences. Kavalkaran and Velayutham are carefully planned out projects and he is sure to bounce back with these films followed by the 3 Idiots remake."