3 min readHyderabadUpdated: Mar 15, 2026 01:04 PM IST
Actor Vijay Sethupathi has never hidden the fact that his taste in films does not always translate to box office numbers. But in a candid recent conversation, he put a figure to it for the first time, spelling out what his journey as a producer has actually cost him.
During an interaction with Baradwaj Rangan for Galatta Plus, Sethupathi said, “All the films I produced ended up being a loss for me,” he said plainly, without any attempt to soften it.
It started before any of those films even reached theatres. Vijay Sethupathi revealed that he had launched a film called Sanguthevan under his production banner, which was eventually dropped mid-way. “It was dropped, which caused a loss of about Rs 1.75 crore,” he said, describing the shelved project as the first blow.
What followed was a run of four films that he backed and believed in, each of which failed to recover its costs. Orange Mittai, Merku Thodarchi Malai, Junga and Laabam came one after another, and by his own admission, none of them worked financially.
But what stands out is how Vijay Sethupathi talks about this with complete absence of bitterness. “Even though they were financially unsuccessful, I have no regrets because I truly like all those films,” he said.
For anyone familiar with those films, the statement tracks. Merku Thodarchi Malai, directed by Lenin Bharathi, was a quiet, almost plotless portrait of hill workers in the Western Ghats that went on to win the National Award for Best Direction. Laabam, directed by SP Jananathan, was a socially charged drama about farmer exploitation. Orange Mittai was a small, gentle film about two strangers on a bus ride. These were not films chasing the mainstream. They were films that needed someone committed enough to fund them. Sethupathi, it appears, was that someone every single time.
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Vijay Sethupathi Productions has been around since 2014. In the years since, the banner has become one of the more unusual things in Tamil cinema: a production house run by a mainstream star that has consistently backed films the mainstream would rather not touch.
What comes next for Vijay Sethupathi?
Vijay Sethupathi as an actor is currently at one of the busiest points of his career, with a lineup that spans genres and industries.
Train, directed by Mysskin, has completed shooting and is awaiting release. The mystery drama is set almost entirely on a moving train and plays out in near real time, with Mysskin also writing the story and composing the music.
Slumdog: 33 Temple Road, directed by Puri Jagannadh, has also wrapped filming and is being positioned as a mass entertainer with a pan-India release in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam.
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Pocket Novel, directed by Thiagarajan Kumararaja, is currently in production. The film marks the actor-director duo’s reunion after Super Deluxe with Ilaiyaraaja composing the music.
Vijay Sethupathi will also appear in a cameo in Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2. He is additionally part of Arasan, the Vetrimaaran-directed film set in the Vada Chennai universe.
Sethupathi also has projects with Mani Ratnam and Nithilan Saminathan, who helmed Maharaja, in the pipeline.
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