She believes this is why Vadivelu’s one-liners such as “Vada poche!” (the vada has disappeared) are used to describe just about everything that happens in Tamil Nadu, be it politics, cinema, sports or any controversy. “We would have all seen a name-dropping guy like Vadivelu from the ‘Laden-Bin Laden’ comedy scene from Muruga (2007) where he boasts of having connections with international rowdies. Most of us would find such people annoying in real life but after you’ve seen Vadivelu doing the same thing, it’s only his face that you can think of when you see such people,” said Muralidharan.
Director Siddique, who has made many successful comedies in his career, agreed. “It is when a comic actor completely immerses themselves in a role that the audience is able to feel their emotions. It’s not about just cracking jokes. You understand Nesamani Chittappa’s frustrations at everything that goes wrong. That’s what makes the character so memorable,” he said.
Despite being a household name in Tamil Nadu and working with all the top stars — from Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan to Vijay, Ajith, Vikram and Suriya — Vadivelu’s career plummeted in 2011 when he campaigned for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) during state elections. The comedian had a fallout with actor-politician Vijayakant, the founder of the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), and he used the opportunity to verbally attack the latter during the campaigning.