Arun Vijay, who stars in the latest Dhanush film Idli Kadai, recently acknowledged that his film with director Bala, titled Vanangaan, did not perform as well as he expected it to fare at the box office. In a recent interview with Sudhir Srinivasan, Arun said that the timing of the film's release, Pongal 2025, played a part in its commercial performance (or the lack of it). The actor added that he had a different Pongal release in 2024, Mission: Chapter 1, which too was squeezed in between two biggies: Dhanush's Captain Miller and Sivakarthikeyan's Ayalaan. While Mission: Chapter 1 reportedly became a successful film commercially, the same is not true for Vanangaan, according to industry trackers.

However, Arun Vijay vouched for the quality of the film, saying that he takes satisfaction from having "done a good film with a director whom I really admired". He also revealed that the audience appreciated his role and performance in the film as well as that it has been received well after its digital premiere.

He addressed a precedent in the film industry of attributing the commercial performance of a film solely to its lead actor. Saying that it is the result of a combined effort, including the production house and publicity team, Arun sated, "Artist alone cannot bear everything."

Arun Vijay is awaiting the release of Retta Thala, where he plays a dual role. Marking the comeback of Maan Karate director Kris Thirukumaran after a long gap, Retta Thala also stars Siddhi Idnani as the female lead.