In a touching reunion that meshed film and politics in Tamil Nadu, Director-actor RJ Balaji and wife Divya Nagarajan met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay at the latter's Chennai office. Their encounter, in the wake of Balaji’s recent directorial effort Karuppu’s massive success, was a touching one of nostalgia as Balaji revealed some of the long-kept secret: the Suriya-starrer was originally written for none other than the CM himself.
The “What If” of Kollywood. RJ Balaji recalled in the interview how he had narrated the script of Karuppu to Vijay back in 2023. At the time, he was working on his cinematic swansong before diving into politics. “And I narrated this film first to Vijay sir. This was supposed to be his last film," he admitted. However, fate had different plans. Vijay, who was also considering H. Vinoth’s Jana Nayagan as his farewell project, asked Balaji for a week to decide.
When Vijay turned down the offer, Balaji conceded that the reasons were “justified” but kept the details private. “I said, ‘Sir, I absolutely respect your decision,’” said Balaji. A Gesture of Gratitude Despite the rejection, Balaji credits Vijay with developing the emotional base of the film. Vijay’s probing questions after the narration forced him to strengthen the screenplay significantly, he said. “The fact that he heard the subject landed me the opportunity to make this film. That’s why I thanked him in the opening credits," Balaji explained.
Balaji posted photos from the meeting on social media, saying: “With the man who started it all for #Karuppu!!! Feels unreal to meet him now as the Honourable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu!!! Same love, warmth, kindness and calmness”.
From Vijay to Suriya The script finally reached Suriya, who jumped on board. After Vijay’s exit, Trisha Krishnan is playing in the film, which has earned more than Rs 250 crore worldwide and is one of the biggest hits of the year. Balaji said that Vijay went on to form his party TVK and take office as CM but the respect between the two is still intact—and sometimes a rejection leads to even greater success.
