Dil Raju, the leading Telugu producer, faced trolls and hatred earlier this month after his controversial statement regarding Vijay and Ajith's stardom went viral. It is well-known that Thalapathy Vijay's Varisu and Ajith Kumar's Thunivu are clashing at the box office on Pongal 2023 after almost nine years.

Both films will have a grand release on equal numbers of screens all over Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, Varisu producer Dil Raju said that Vijay is a bigger star than Ajith and Varisu should get more screens. He clarified that his intention was not to degrade anyone after the statement landed in controversy.

Now, in a recent Telugu interview, Dil Raju has explained why he said Vijay is a bigger star. He said, "Equal number of screens were given to Varisu and Thunivu in Tamil Nadu. But my hero (Vijay) is a bigger star. So, I said I was going to ask if they could allot more screens to Varisu. How do you decide who is the bigger star?"

"A hero's star power is decided by theatrical revenue. Non-theatrical revenue is a myth. Vijay's last 5-6 movies have done more than 60 Cr share from Tamil Nadu theatricals alone irrespective of the movie's result. Thus, he is bigger than anyone right there now," added Dil Raju. Varisu and Thunivu will hit the screens worldwide on 12 January 2023.

Last 5-6 movies of #ThalapathyVijay
collected a huge theatrical revenue irrespective of movie's result ❤️‍??

Hence I'm telling he is bigger than anyone else right now and currently he is NO.1 ???? #VarisuPongal #Varisu #VarisuAudioLanch #Thalapathy67pic.twitter.com/jEhXFeUuvn

— OTVF™ (@otvfofficial) December 28, 2022