Chellame was an interesting debut. He played the lead, yes, but the story did not revolve around him. A solid but uncanny start, indeed.
A script written for Vijay was made with an one-film-old hero. Sandakozhi catapulted Vishal to the big league, and in just one film, the actor became an action star.When Vishal bellowed, 'Naanum Madhurakaaran dhaan da', in Thimiru, little did we know it would become his most famous dialogue, till date.With Malaikottai, Vishal got to display his comic talent. Incidentally, this was the first time he was called as — Puratchi ThalapathyAfter a string of successes, Vishal faced his first massive downward swing with Sathyam. Playing a cop for the first time in his career, there were huge expectations, but alas!Vishal quickly bounced back with Theeradha Vilayaatu Pillai. A breezy romcom that showed Vishal in an urban-chic avatarVishal established his star credentials even before establishing his acting chops. He did the latter by starring in Bala's Avan Ivan, where his role and efforts won him a lot of accoladesThe gamechanger in Vishal's career — Pandiyanaadu showed the actor in a different light. Who'd have thought Vishal could ace the role of a docile blue-collar workerNaan Sigappu Manithan was a huge responsibility on Vishal's shoulders. Using a Rajinikanth film title is always a double-edged sword. This film about narcolepsy was a laudable effort for sure.Kathakali is an interesting addition to the list of 'smart thrillers within the commercial setup' Vishal films. It was a welcome move towards making thrillers with minimal OTT action sequencesThere are very few actors in Tamil cinema who suit a rural subject more than Vishal. While he might not have done a lot, films like Marudhu helped him penetrate more into the StateNever before did a Vishal film make the audience go back home thinking about their life choices. This PS Mithran-directed cyber thriller made us ask a lot of questions about our social media livesMysskin and Vishal is an unlikely combination. What made it even more intriguing was that Thupparivalan was the director's tribute to Sherlock HolmesReturn of Balu. In Lingusamy's Sandakozhi 2, Vishal was no more a one-film hero. Now, he was a bonafide action star, returning to familiar territory.Ayogya marked Vishal's second remake after Vedi. As Karnan, a corrupt cop, Vishal delivers a compelling performance, which culminated in an interesting climax