Vijay is considered as the next big star of Kollywood after Rajinikanth, but did you know the impact of the Tamil superstar on Thalapathy's career? On numerous occasions, the actor had confessed that Rajini was his inspiration, but not many are aware of the fact that he had performed sequences from the 69-year old's movie to prove his father that he has talent to act. 

Rajinikanth and Vijay
Rajinikanth's influence on Vijay's career.PR Handout

'I was quite weak in studies'
At a directors' union function, Vijay had spoken about the opposition from his father SA Chandrsekhar over him deciding to become an actor. "I was quite weak in studies. After my 10th standard, I slowly started getting attracted towards films," he said, stating that his father was against his wish.

Annamalai Impact
"Thereafter, I came up with a video in which I acted the scene from Rajinikanth's Annamalai to convince my father" Thalapathy says. When the Thuppakki actor was asked about the particular scene that he performed in the video, Vijay said, "It was the scene between Rajini sir and Radha Ravi sir where the former challenges the latter,"

The Mersal star was then asked by the host to share his first day experience of shooting, considering that his father was a disciplined and a strict filmmaker.

SAC tried to Scare Vijay Away from Films
At this stage, SA Chandrasekhar (SAC) intervenes to respond to this question and admitted that Vijay took up acting career despite his opposition. "I did not have a choice since my wife had requested me to help our son fulfill his dream. He had performed scenes from Rajini sir films and I saw the fire in him. Even then I was not keen on him pursuing acting career. So, I decided to have a 'heavy' scene involving Radha Ravi and Sri Vidya and scare him away from acting,"

He added, "My belief was that he might quit acting and decide to go to college. However, he performed the scene well. I told my wife after going home that I was not sure whether this movie would be a hit or not, but he would definitely become a big actor, someday."

Today, Vijay has become the biggest star in terms of generating revenue for movies at the box office in Tamil Nadu. Ironically, his movies have outperformed some of Rajinikanth's recent movies at the box office.