Let’s officially declare September as “Vijay Sethupathi Month”! Honestly, the guy seems to be here, there, everywhere — on TV, in the theatres and on OTT too. Almost every Tamil film releasing this month has the stellar actor in the lead. Not just that, the myriad Vijay Sethupathi releases will straddle multiple genres – a horror comedy, a political satire, a social drama, and more. Laabam, Annabelle Sethupathi, Tughlaq Durbar, Kadaisi Vivasayi, and a Telugu-dubbed version of his 2017 film, Puriyatha Puthir, are the films that will grace different mediums this month of September.
Laabam hits theatres on 9th September. Tughlaq Durbar premieres on Sun TV on the 10th, as a Vinayak Chaturthi treat for audiences. It arrives on Netflix one day later, on the 11th. Just a few days later, on 17th September, Annabelle Sethupathi hits Disney Plus Hotstar. Kadaisi Vivasayi waits in the wings to premiere in theatres, most likely on 17th September again. To top it all, Aha Video has jumped onto the Vijay Sethupathi bandwagon by announcing the release of Pizza 2 on 3rd September. For the uninitiated, it is the Telugu dubbed version of Tamil film, Puriyatha Puthir.
This ultimately brings us to the question – isn’t it a major case of overkill?
To answer our own question—it most definitely is.
Back-to-back Vijay Sethupathi films is good, but how much is too much of a good thing? Over-exposure of anything is bad; and in Vijay Sethupathi’s case, it is an all out deluge! Looking at it objectively, come September, whichever way you turn, there will be a Vijay Sethupathi film staring back at you.
Hmm, not good, if you ask us.
Agreed, Vijay Sethupathi has been enjoying his best period in recent years. He’s constantly been in the spotlight, courtesy his shrewd film choices. He is one actor who isn’t afraid to play the primary antagonist in a high profile film, Master, for instance; as much as he enjoys playing the lead in other, even low-key projects. He’s won the audiences’ hearts with his varied film roles—which are fast getting too prolific for comfort.
There’s a major flipside to the proliferation of Vijay Sethupathi content in every medium, and not a very pleasant one. Viewers are known to be fickle. A film or two per year of their favourite actors, and they’re delirious with happiness. But too many films of those very same actors — ennui sets in pretty soon, and they’re quick to write him off. Vijay Sethupathi has been the most exposed face this year, if you ask us. Remember, he was there in Master and Telugu film Uppena too. Audiences will get “bored” of him, and it is bound to happen sooner rather than later. It’ll be good if Vijay Sethupathi takes steps to guard against this.
Of course, the surfeit of Vijay Sethupathi films has happened through no fault of the actor’s. The pandemic forced filmmakers to postpone release after release, several being the actor’s films. The current respite in Covid-19, reopening of theatres, the festive season, all combined to cause a stampede of releases – in theatres and on OTT. Actors hardly have a say in when and how their film releases. It should have been the foresight of the filmmakers and film studios in question to stagger the various Vijay Sethupathi films so that they wouldn’t release back to back.
However, what’s done is done; and can’t be changed. Whatever be the case, let’s gear up for Vijay Sethupathi month, and hope the actor entertains his viewers the way he originally planned to.
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