It's a well known fact that, actor Vijay was titled Ilaya Thalapathy during the initial stages of his career, and is now being called Thalapathy Vijay. However, Vijay wasn't the first actor in Tamil cinema to have Ilaya Thalapathy title.

Before Vijay, actor Saravanan of Paruthi veeran and Bigg Boss 3 fame was having the title Ilaya Thalapathy. In a recent interview, Saravanan revealed that he was given the title by DMK prominent member Veerapandi Arumugam in the 90s, in a meeting held in Salem.

Saravanan's name was displayed with the title Ilaya Thalapathy in movies like Nallathe Nadakkum, Sundaram plus 2 etc but after the arrival of Vijay, he started using the title. When Saravanan asked director SA Chandrasekhar regarding the title, he had reportedly told Saravanan to use the title if he's acting in films.