Vijay has been honoured with the Best International Actor Award by the UK-based International Achievement Recognitions Awards (IARA).

IARA Awards, founded in 2014, recognises and celebrates the outstanding talents who have excelled within their respective industries. This year, among an impressive list of nominees including the likes of Joshua Jackson (Children of a Lesser God), Kenneth Okolie (The Royal Hibiscus Hotel), Adjetey Anang (Side Chick Gang), Khumbulani Kay Sabiya (Agent) and Taim Hasan (El Heba El Awda), Vijay won the Best International Actor award for his triple-role in the 2016 film, Mersal. 

Vijay was also nominated under the Best Actor category along with David Tennant (Don Juan in Soho), John Boyega (Star Wars:The Last Jedi), Chris Attoh (Swing), Jack Perry Jones (Bang), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Zack Morris (Eastenders), and Jamie Lomas (Hollyoaks) this year. However, he didn't make it to the final list in that category.

In 2017, the Best International Actor Award was bagged by Nigerian actor OC Ukeje for his performance in the film, The Arbitration.

The IARA is not the first international accolade for the Atlee directorial. Mersal also won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 4th edition of the National Film Awards UK 2018 in April.

Mersal, also starring Nithya Menen, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha, SJ Surya, Vadivelu and Sathyaraj, turned out to be a huge blockbuster in the star's career as well.