Ilayathalapathy Vijay celebrates his 43rd birthday today.

Vijay is undoubtedly one of the top most stars of Kollywood today and his fan following is not only huge in number but also diverse. Right from the beginning of his career he has been a darling of youngsters, women and children and he remains so even after 40. That is not only because of the youthful looks and charm he has been maintaining throughout but also because of his selection of roles, the way he performs them onscreen and of course his friendly and dignified off screen persona.

Year after year, the celebrations for Vijay's birthday is spreading to other states and overseas as well. For the first time, a Tamil actor's old film is going to be screened in Melbourne to celebrate his birthday. This proves beyond doubt that Vijay's mass star power is conquering even the people living outside India. In his home state and other states such as Kerala and Karnataka also there are going to be a large number of screenings of his old blockbusters on his birthday. This proves the tremendous expansion of Vijay's fan base in the recent years.

This level of stardom did not come overnight. Though it may be cliched, it is true that Vijay had to face a lot of struggles, rejections and hatred in his journey towards the Box Office Samrat status. During his initial years his films were panned by critics and he was also trolled for the way he looked. Thanks to his perseverance and ability to learn, the star picked up all the qualities required to become a people favorite star. While mass action films has always recurred in his career graph, Vijay has also acted in light hearted romance and family entertainers like 'Kadhalukku Mariyadhai', 'Thulladha Manamum Thullum', 'Priyamanavale' and 'Kavalan', He has also experimented different films such as 'Kannukkul Nilavu' and 'Puli. Even in most of his action films such as 'Ghillie', 'Pokkiri', 'Thuppakki', 'Kaththi' and 'Theri', there will be something to cherish for all kind of audiences. These films have sweet romance, rollicking comedy, memorable songs and heart touching sentiment. This ensured that a Vijay film always draws all age groups of audience to the theatres.

The past five years of Vijay's career deserves special attention and analysis. Vijay's selection of films and his success rate are exceptionally brilliant in these years. Today even the so called intellectual film critics cannot miss admiring him for his films and performance. If 'Naban' was very different experience where we saw Vijay as a intellectual college student, 'Thuppakki' had a lot to cherish for the mass as well as class audience due to its patriotic theme. In 'Kaththi'' Vijay showed his versatility playing an unassuming and vulnerable Jeevanandham and the street smart Kathiresan who takes up the cause of farmers. 'Puli' was a very different experiment and a mass star like Vijay acting in a fantasy film is praiseworthy despite its poor performance of the film at the Box office. Then came 'Theri' in which Vijay played an affectionate son, a passionate lover and a dotting father apart from being an intelligent and powerful cop and emphatically conquered the hearts of everyone. He is presently busy shooting for his 61st film 'Mersal' and the expectations for this film are sky high . With Vijay playing triple roles for the first time and the inclusion of relevant elements like Jallikattu as evidenced in the first look poster, we can be assured that this film is going to crate new benchmark of box office collections.

Another admirable trend in recent years as far as Vijay is concerned is that he has started expressing his opinions in issues affecting people. He supported the demonetisation move of the Union Government but unlike many other stars, he dared to criticise its negative effects which made the poor people suffer a lot. He personally took part in the Jallikattu protest of youngsters and also voiced his opinion against the ban on the sport and those who are behind the ban. Recently he expressed a genuine sorrow for the pathetic living condition of farmers who give food for us. His opinions are not celebrated just because they are bold and straight forward, it is because his words reflect his genuine care for the common man and his words are carefully picked to not hurt anyone.

Many fans want him to take a plunge into politics but that should be his left to his decision. Nobody can stop his entry or success in whatever field including politics but it should not be something forced upon him. As of now we can say thathe will definitely going to be a good, law abiding and inspirational citizen of the nation, wherever he is and whatever he does.

Given his increasing charm and respect, we can predict that the coming years are going to be much more greater and cherishable for Vijay as an actor and also as a person.

At this moment IndiaGlitz is happy to join the crores of Vijay fans, wellwishers and friends across the world in wishing him a Happy Birthday.