Vijay's Cycle Politics

Tamil superstar Vijay cycled to a polling booth in Chennai to cast his vote, causing a brief flutter in the neighbourhood streets and a storm of speculation online that it was some form of protest.

Videos which spread quickly on sharing platforms showed the actor cycling to a booth in Neelankarai with a bunch of fans on motorcycles trying their best to stay around him.

That the cycle was red and black - the DMK's colours - quickly led to the conclusion that the actor, called 'Thalapathy' ( Commander) by his fans, was sending a message against the ruling AIADMK on the high price of fuel.

Thalapathy Master entered 300 crore club

Thalapathy enter 300 crore box office collection

Master Box office collection

Master is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, who also wrote the screenplay and dialogues by Kanagaraj with Rathna Kumar and Pon Parthiban. The film was produced by Xavier Britto, under his maiden production house XB Film Creators, and was distributed by S. S. Lait Kumar of Seven Screen Studios. The film stars Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi, with Malavika Mohanan, Arjun Das, Andrea Jeremiah and Shanthanu Bhagyaraj in supporting roles. It revolves around an alcoholic professor, J. D. (Vijay), who takes a three-month teaching job in a juvenile home, which is controlled by the nefarious Bhavani (Sethupathi).

Lokesh Kanagaraj narrated the script to Vijay in May 2019, and after his acceptance, the film was launched under in August 2019, whereas principal photography commenced in October 2019 and ended in February 2020. Filming took place at Delhi, Chennai and Karnataka. Originally launched under the tentative title Thalapathy 64, the official title Master was announced on 31 December 2019. The music is composed by Anirudh Ravichander, while cinematography and editing are performed by Sathyan Sooryan and Philomin Raj respectively.

Master was initially planned for theatrical release on 9 April 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The makers preferred to wait for a theatrical release, rather than releasing it on any over-the-top media service. After being delayed for several months, the film was released in theatres on 13 January 2021, a day before Pongal. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who appreciated Vijay and Sethupathi's performance, characterisations, score and soundtrack, but criticised for its screenplay, narration and storyline. The film was a commercial success collecting ₹263 crore–₹300 crore theatrically in its complete run. It was the first Indian film to have occupied No 1 in the global box office at the time of release.

Box office

In its opening day, the film collected ₹25 crore in the Tamil Nadu box office, with ₹1.21 crore from Chennai theatres. Producer Xavier Britto officially confirmed the news of its first day collection, through the production company's Twitter account. The film earned ₹4.30 crore from Karnataka, ₹9.40 crore from Andhra Pradesh-Telangana region, ₹2.10 crore from Kerala and ₹70 lakhs from rest of the parts in India, totalling upto ₹40.40 crore in India. In its second day of release, the film earned ₹21.20 crore at the Indian box office, thus crossing the ₹50 crore mark, and the film also collected ₹14.20 crore in Tamil Nadu, there by crossing the 40-crore mark. The film earned ₹110 crore in the worldwide box office, crossing the 100-crore mark in three days, as well as the 50-crore mark in Tamil Nadu box office.

At the closing of its first week box office collections, the film earned ₹200 crore at the worldwide box office within nine days of its release. Further, the film collected ₹100 crore in the Tamil Nadu box office, thus becoming the actor's fourth consecutive film to do so after Mersal, Sarkar and Bigil. The film was a profitable venture in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, collecting ₹9.20 crore share in first three days. The Hindi dubbed version Vijay The Master collected ₹4.5 crore in 5 days. Master also crossed the 10-crore mark at the Chennai city box office, and also surpassed the lifetime collection of Theri, at the city box office grossing ₹11.56 crore within 33 days. The film also collected a share of ₹80 crore in Tamil Nadu, surpassing Baahubali 2: The Conclusion which earlier collected a share of ₹78 crore.

Master was the highest-grossing film in United Arab Emirates, collecting $1.4 million within two days, surpassing Wonder Woman 1984 and Tenet. Since its release according to Deadline Hollywood, it became the biggest post-pandemic worldwide release as well as the highest-grossing film in international markets and also topped the global box office rankings at the time of release. It was the first Indian film to have occupied No 1 in the global box office at the time of release. The film earned ₹4.60 crore from Australia, ₹0.90 crore from New Zealand, ₹8.00 crore from Singapore, ₹3.30 crore from United States, ₹19.00 crore from UAE and Middle East and in the rest of the world it earned ₹8.00 crore. The News Minute stated that the film grossed ₹300 crore worldwide in its entire run, whereas India.com stated that the film grossed ₹263 crore in its lifetime.