For much of Tuesday, an inexplicable Twitter trend set off a fair bit of head scratching. Trending even higher than cricketer Shikhar Dhawan, whose thumb injury means he has to sit some weeks of the World Cup out, were two words: Me - Vijay. That it had something to do with Tamil superstar Vijay was evident; exactly what, though, was shrouded in mystery. There seemed to be no reasonable explanation of the trend, given its extreme vagueness. Nor had Vijay done anything to merit a trend - his next film is a work-in-progress and although he does have a birthday coming up, it's a couple of weeks away. However, Vijay's fans are a formidable lot and never to be underestimated. Turns out, 'Me - Vijay' is only a part of the whole, the whole being tweets listing family members and their favourite actor - grandparents and parents are apparently allowed to admire actors who are not Vijay - ending with self and self's favourite actor: Me - Vijay.
Still don't get it? Here are a few examples:
Appa - Vijay
— Bharath (@bharvijay220) June 12, 2019
Amma - Vijay
Me - Vijay pic.twitter.com/kuGjpx6FCZ
Favorite Actors of my family members:
— George Vijay Addict (@VijayIsMyLife) June 11, 2019
Grandpa - Sivaji and Vijay
Grandma - Gemini Ganesan and Vijay
Dad - Vijay
Mom - Vijay
Brother - Vijay
Me - Vijay
Proud to have born and raised in the family that evolves as #Vijay fans. pic.twitter.com/MRR0c0hwoK
Fav heroes of my family members
— Swetha Sri (@Swathika_Swetha) June 11, 2019
Dad - MGR
Mom - Rajini
Me - Thalapathy VIJAY
Sister - Thalapathy VIJAY
Brother - Thalapathy VIJAY
Quote/Reply with Yours..
Dad - Vijay
— I (@Irshad_8055) June 11, 2019
Mom - Vijay
Sister - Vijay
Brother - Vijay
Wife - Vijay
Daughter - Vijay
Kerala - Vijay
Me - Vijay
Lightbulb, right?
Vijay, to whom fans apply the epithet 'Thalapathy' or commander, will be 45 on June 22. Expect a Twitter spectacle. Vijay is one of the top stars of Tamil cinema, beginning as a child artiste in 1984 film Vetri. In 1992, an 18-year-old Vijay was cast in his first lead role in Nalaaiya Theerpu; his breakout film, however, was 1996's Poove Unakkaga.
Then on, Vijay coasted from hit to hit - Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, Kushi, Thirumalai, Pokkiri, Theri, Mersal. His 63rd film, known currently as Thalapathy 63, co-stars Nayanthara.
Vijay's slate of co-stars boast names like Sivaji Ganesan, Suriya and Priyanka Chopra, with whom he starred in 2002 film Thamizhan before she made her Bollywood debut.
Vijay has also made a film - Rajavin Parvaiyile - with fellow star Ajith Kumar. Vijay fans and Ajith fans are at daggers drawn and conduct vicious online campaigns against each other in which no quarter is given. In 2017, Vijay's fans denounced Ajith's extreme fitness in new film Vivegam as a Photoshop job; earlier the same year, Ajith fans were convinced that Vijay was wearing a wig in his new film Bairavaa because of a failed hair transplant. The salvos in these campaigns are fired with the choicest of abuse - the rivalry between the actors themselves may or may not be real but it certainly is between their fans.
Vijay's own Twitter activity is limited to posts promoting his films and his official account has not acknowledged the 'Me - Vijay' trend.
