Priyamudan was just as much a gamble for Vijay soon in his early career, after the release of Kadhalukku Mariyadhaias Darr and Baazigar were for Shah Rukh Khan. The role of a deceitful and vengeful killer, who receives the ultimate form of punishment for his sins, underscores a boldness that showed early flashes of Vijay’s willingness to experiment. In fact, Vijay himself cited Darr as inspiration for the film.
As Vijay turned into an even bigger star in the 2000s, opportunities to play straight-up villains became rare.In the late 2010s, Vijay had expressed his hesitation around villainous characters, but he explicitly cited Shah Rukh Khan’s anti-hero roles as his standard for doing dark roles. During Thuppakki promotions, he said that he was not against such roles and that he would consider doing films similar to Darr and Baazigar if those scripts came his way. While these roles never came from him again, he did not stop experimenting on occasion.
In his first dual role, for example, Vijay plays both the protagonist and the antagonist in Azhagiya Tamil Magan. Prasad is a greedy, ruthless, and unabashedly selfish man who would go to any lengths for financial gain. Years later in GOAT, Vijay portrays another dual role as father and son. The son is brainwashed by a villain from a young age and grows up to be a cold, psychopathic, and vengeful antagonist. Vijay’s performance as an unhinged villain in the second half—characterised by his erratic energy and maniacal laughter—is one of the major highlights of the film.
Between Azhagiya Tamil Magan and GOAT came numerous films from Vijay where he plays variations of the ‘saviour of the masses,’ some of which tease his grand political entry. The actor occasionally showed his willingness to enter previously uncharted territory even in the 2020s, such as with the role of an alcoholic who initially turns a blind eye to social injustice in Master. Even in the 2000s, he showed a similar tendency to invest in slightly unconventional roles, such as with Kannukkul Nilavuwhere he plays a man with a serious psychological issue who becomes obsessive and dangerous towards those who he feels has harmed his lover. However, Priyamudan still remains his finest hour in a career that spanned three decades. Will there be a second coming post Jana Supervisor? We will have to wait and watch.
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