Days after Tamil actor Vijay took to social media to thank his fans for his latest film Mersal's box office run, he has now released a statement expressing gratitude towards those who defended the film against the onslaught of the Tamil Nadu BJP unit.
In his statement on Wednesday, the actor said:
Mersal has been highly successful but has faced some opposition. But my friends from the film industry, actors, directors, producers, the Nadigar Sangam, Film directors’ association, the South Indian film artistes association, national leaders, the media, my fans and friends have given a befitting reply to this opposition and supported Mersal.Vijay (In a statement)
Vijay thanked everyone for their support as well as for the success of the film.
Following the release of the film, BJP leaders in the state had demanded that scenes which criticised the centre's schemes such as GST and Digital India be removed. In addition to this, senior BJP leader H Raja published a picture of the actor’s voter’s ID and a letterhead bearing the name ‘Joseph Vijay’ on Twitter, suggesting that his religion was the motive behind his criticism of the government.
Incidentally, the actor used the same ‘Joseph Vijay’ letterhead on Wednesday that Raja had used on social media with the caption ‘bitter truth’. While the Tamil star has always used letterheads that state his name to be Joseph Vijay with a ‘Jesus saves’ written on it, the timing of this statement has to be noted.
Following the Mersal controversy, opposition parties and actors across the country came to Vijay's defence and pointed out that there was no need for further censorship of the film as it had already been certified by the CBFC.
The Congress, DMK and other opposition parties had all rallied in support of the actor who is believed to have political aspirations himself. His father SA Chandrasekhar who has been giving interviews to several media houses, in fact stated that he would like for his son to enter politics but the decision remains in Vijay's hands.
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