Mersal star Vijay visits kin of Sterlite plant protest victims in Thoothukudi amidst protest against Rajinikanth's Kaala

According to recent reports, Tamil superstar Vijay, on 5 June, paid a visit to the anti-Sterlite protesters and families of police-firing victims in Thoothukudi. The actor silently visited the place on a bike. The Thuppakki star extended his condolences to the family members of the victims who lost their lives during the police firings.

In the past few days, Tamil Nadu had grabbed attention of the whole nation as it witnessed major protests by people of the state against the Sterlite Copper Smelting plant in Tuticorin. On 22 May, the state police open fired at the protesters which claimed 10 lives; this further agitated the protesters and raised discussions in forums far and wide. Superstar Rajinikanth also condemned the firing in strong words calling it government’s “careless attitude” and “unlawful police firing”, following which many Kollywood stars came in support of the _Kaala_ star including Dhanush, Kamal Haasan and Vijay Sethupathi among others. In the wake of the socio-political stir that these protests have caused in the state, these voices and gestures of film stars seem to stand out. While Rajinikanth’s strong opposition to the firing and his support to the protesters was directly linked to his alleged political inclinations , the other actors’ concerns have found support in social media. Rajinikanth-starrer Kaala seems to have been facing the issue of low advance booking and trade pundits suspect the superstar’s support to Sterlite plant protest victims as one of the reasons. Vijay is currently shooting for AR Murugadoss’ upcoming film tentatively named _Thalapathy 62_ , as it marks the actor’s 62nd feature film. With Thalapathy 62, Vijay will be collaborating again with Murugadoss after delivering superhits like Thuppakki and Kaththi. His 2017 film Mersal became a monstrous box office success.