By the numbers
- Films: 67 since 2006; 47 in the last ten years (cameos and guest appearances not counted)
- Recent films with figures: 7 of 14 since 2022
- Hits: 4 (4 blockbusters), average: 0, flops: 3 – a hit rate of 57%
- Average return: 4.05x budget; best: Maharaja 9.50x; weakest: Merry Christmas 0.43x
- Biggest hit: Jawan (2023), ₹1,150 cr
- Trend: last five films 4.71x on average, the five before 2.42x (up)
- Born: 1978-01-16
| Year | Film | Budget | Box office | Return | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Gandhi Talks | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2025 | Thalaivan Thalaivii | ₹25 cr | ₹110 cr | 4.40x | Blockbuster |
| 2025 | Ace | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2025 | Thudarum | ₹28 cr | ₹234 cr | 8.36x | Blockbuster |
| 2024 | Viduthalai Part 2 | ₹65 cr | ₹55 cr | 0.85x | Flop |
| 2024 | Maharaja | ₹20 cr | ₹190 cr | 9.50x | Blockbuster |
| 2024 | Merry Christmas | ₹60 cr | ₹26 cr | 0.43x | Flop |
| 2023 | Jawan | ₹300 cr | ₹1,150 cr | 3.83x | Blockbuster |
| 2023 | Mumbaikar | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2023 | Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir | – | – | – | No figures |
| 2023 | Viduthalai Part 1 | ₹40 cr | ₹40 cr | 1.00x | Flop |
| 2023 | Michael | – | ₹11 cr | – | No figures |
| 2022 | DSP | – | ₹11 cr | – | No figures |
| 2022 | 19(1)(a) | – | – | – | No figures |
What the numbers say
Vijay Sethupathi’s filmography page lists 67 films across a 2006 debut and releases through 2026, with 47 of those arriving in the last decade. The sharper scorecard is in the table above: among seven recent films with full budget and gross data, the page records four hits and three flops — a 57 per cent hit rate and an average multiple of 4.05. Total gross across the listed films stands at ₹1,827 crore. All four of the hits sit in the blockbuster column, which makes the record feel stronger than the modest hit rate suggests.
There is also a data gap: 14 appearances are left out of the page’s count, and several recent titles in the table above carry no figures. Where a film has no figures, Wikipedia carries none rather than an estimate.
The hits and the misses
The biggest hit by gross is Jawan (2023), a ₹300-crore film that grossed ₹1,150 crore and returned a 3.83 multiple. The best return, however, is Maharaja (2024): made for ₹20 crore and grossing ₹190 crore, a 9.50 multiple and a blockbuster. The weakest return in the data is Merry Christmas (2024), budgeted at ₹60 crore and grossing ₹26.02 crore for a 0.43 multiple. The gap between Maharaja and Merry Christmas defines the scorecard: one film multiplied its budget nearly tenfold, while another recovered less than half its cost.
The trend
The recent five average multiple is 4.71, against 2.42 for the five before. That is an improvement of almost double, but the line is jagged rather than smooth. Thudarum (2025), budgeted at ₹28 crore, grossed ₹234 crore for an 8.36 multiple; Thalaivan Thalaivii (2025), budgeted at ₹25 crore, grossed ₹110 crore for a 4.40 multiple. On the other side, Viduthalai Part 1 (2023) merely matched its ₹40-crore budget at 1.0, and Viduthalai Part 2 (2024) returned 0.85. The trend is upward, but it is powered by a few contained-budget successes.
What it means for the actor’s next film and for the industry
The scorecard points to a simple underwriting rule: the strongest outcomes come when the budget is disciplined and the material connects, as with Maharaja and Thudarum. Jawan (2023) shows a different use case — a ₹300-crore commercial vehicle where his presence fits into a larger canopy, returning 3.83. The cautionary case is Merry Christmas, where a ₹60-crore budget left no margin for error and the result was the page’s weakest multiple.
For the industry, Sethupathi’s value is not a steady average; it is asymmetric upside. A 4.05 average multiple is real, but it sits alongside a 0.43 floor. For his next film, the question is whether producers will price the asset as the contained Maharaja-Thudarum package or as the broader star name. The table’s 2026 entry, Gandhi Talks, carries no figures on the page, so there is no basis yet to extend the trend. Until then, the record says: back the positioning, not just the face.
Figures: Vijay Sethupathi filmography on Wikipedia and each film’s page, read on 27 September 2026.
