Vijay Sethupathi on Maharaja success: 'Some said my movies would no longer work in theatres, but...'

Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi thanked audiences after his latest movie, Maharaja, emerged successful at the box office. At a media event in Chennai on Wednesday, Sethupathi revealed that he was grappling with several questions as he was not fully sure whether the audience would appreciate a movie like Maharaja.

"When I heard this story, I felt a sense of wonder and confidence. But, as always, I wondered how it would pan out. Once I finish acting in a movie, I don't know how it will work out. Later, we show the film to other people and try to understand whether or not a scene is working and conveying the right message. That's how we gain confidence in a movie. We were confident that this film would earn back the money producers invested in it by becoming an average or above-average hit," he said.

Sethupathi had his reasons for such self-doubts amid the fast-evolving landscape of Indian cinema. It's becoming increasingly difficult to predict the behaviour of movie-going audiences. It's widely believed that movies that are not spectacles may not draw audiences to theatres. However, the response to Maharaja at the box office has changed that notion.

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Not just in Tamil Nadu, Maharaja is also performing very well in Kerala, the Telugu states, and Karnataka.

"My last few films didn't fare well at the box office. A friend told me that he heard someone saying that audiences would no longer come to theatres for Vijay Sethupathi. I was facing so many such questions. But, I didn't do Maharaja to answer these questions. Because if that was the intention, this film might have been ruined. But, I am happy that Maharaja became an answer to all the questions that were thrown at me," said Sethupathi.

Written and directed by Nithilan Swaminathan, Maharaja also stars Anurag Kashyap and Mamta Mohandas.

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