5 min readKochiAug 23, 2026 06:55 PM IST
While Vijay, who currently serves as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, was one of the biggest superstars in Indian cinema when he retired to focus on politics and state administration, that wasn’t always the case throughout his career. In fact, there was a period that lasted about four years when his films underperformed back-to-back.
Despite being known for actioners during that phase of his career, it was actually a romantic comedy that put Vijay back on the map, and interestingly, it was a remake of a Malayalam film. At the actor’s insistence, the director had even briefly planned the film as a Tamil original, but the producer was apparently not impressed with the story, prompting the helmer to move forward with making it in Malayalam. The film also received a Hindi remake, which too became a massive success.
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Why Tamil Bodyguard failed to materialise initially
The movie we are referring to is Kaavalan (2011), helmed by late legendary director Siddique. A remake of his Malayalam romantic comedy Bodyguard (2010), Vijay and Asin reprised in Tamil the lead characters originally played by Dileep and Nayanthara. During an appearance on Safari TV’s “Charithram Enniloode” programme once, Siddique revealed how Vijay’s wish to make the film in Tamil first fell through and that he regularly received phone calls warning him against remaking it.
“While I was working on the Malayalam version, I had visited Tamil Nadu for some reason. Vijay was shooting next to the hotel where I stayed. I went to meet him, we talked for a while. He asked about my next movie, and I told him the plot. He said, ‘Sir, let’s do this in Tamil!’ He even suggested releasing the Tamil version before the Malayalam one. I told him I had already given Dileep my word. He said, ‘Check with Dileep. I think this will work beautifully in Tamil.’ Vijay was going to work with AVM Productions at that time,” Siddique recalled.
A remake of the Malayalam film Bodyguard, Vijay and Asin reprised the lead characters originally played by Dileep and Nayanthara in Kaavalan. (Credit: IMDb)
The Tamil superstar asked Siddique to pitch the story to the production company, and the director did. “But they didn’t like it because they wanted an action movie for Vijay. They went with another film (Vettaikaaran) instead. I told Vijay we’d talk later. Once I finished the Malayalam film, I showed it to Vijay. He said, ‘It’s great! Let’s do it in Tamil immediately.’ A producer who had worked with Vijay before was interested in bankrolling this project, and we were both okay with him.”
How five consecutive setbacks pushed Vijay to the brink
At the time of Kaavalan’s release, Vijay was going through a tough phase in his career, not having delivered any major successes since Pokkiri (2007). Despite being a massive star, with all his movies arriving amidst high anticipation, Vijay’s Azhagiya Tamil Magan (2007), Kuruvi (2008), Villu (2009), Vettaikaaran (2009), and Sura (2010) underperformed. The work on Kaavalan began at a time when the actor desperately needed a bona fide box-office hit.
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“However, Vijay kept getting calls from Kerala saying Bodyguard was a flop and that he shouldn’t do it. Vijay called me and said, ‘Sir, people are telling me not to do it. Why are they saying such things?’ I told him I didn’t know why. Vijay then called producer Shibu, who distributes his films. Shibu told him Bodyguard was a huge hit in Kerala with great reviews. That’s how we started the Tamil movie, and it was a massive hit.”
How Bodyguard reached Salman Khan
While discussions for the Tamil version were underway, Siddique got an opportunity to remake it in Hindi as well, with Salman Khan — the director’s first choice for a Bollywood version — playing the lead role. “A friend of mine one day brought Salman Khan’s sister Alvira Khan’s husband, actor-producer Atul Agnihotri, to me. Salman had already given Atul his dates for a movie. Atul asked if I could narrate the story to him so that he could inform the actor and confirm the project. When I narrated the story, he also liked it a lot and said it would be perfect for Salman Khan,” Siddique shared.
Vijay with director Siddique on the sets of Kaavalan. (Credit: IMDb)
He added, “After the release of the Malayalam version, I subtitled it and showed it to Salman. He watched it and called me during the interval, saying, ‘We are doing this!’ Once he finished watching the whole film, he asked me to come to Mumbai as soon as possible. During our meeting, he asked me if we could start the project right away. I told him I had already said yes to the Tamil version and gave him a timeline of when my commitment to Vijay would be over. We planned the Hindi version accordingly.”
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Bankrolled by Atul Agnihotri and Alvira Khan, the Hindi Bodyguard (2011) featured Kareena Kapoor Khan as the female lead. The movie became a massive success in Bollywood as well, grossing Rs 252.99 crore globally, according to Bollywood Hungama.
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