It was before the country had gone under the pandemic lockdown; Actor Vijay was busy shooting for Master in Cuddalore district when Income Tax (IT) department’s investigation wing dramatically stormed Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC)’s campus and escorted actor Vijay back to Chennai for an IT raid. The actor who had previously made a nemesis out of the ruling BJP party through his movie Mersal (2017), was this time under investigation for Bigil (2019).

Vijay’s residence at Panaiyur was raided alleging financial irregularities and several items has been sealed (eventually re-opened) for investigation. While Master's shooting at NLC carried on without the actor, upon his return cadres from the Tamil Nadu BJP staged a protest claiming that Vijay should not be shooting at a protected mining area. This, despite the crew obtaining required permissions.

Thank you Neyveli pic.twitter.com/cXQC8iPukl

— Vijay (@actorvijay) February 10, 2020

On February 10, 2020, following an eventful week, the 'Thalapathy' actor posted this now epic selfie flocked by his fans in the background. The 'Neyveli selfie' not only broke the internet but was also seen as a subtle reply from the usually twitter-dormant Vijay to his political detractors.

#ThalapathyVijay, #MasterSelfie, #ThalapathySelfie and other hashtags had trended all throughout that Monday evening, leading into Tuesday. The only other time Vijay publicly acknowledged the political targetting was during Master's audio launch where he said that when he was younger his life 'used to be peaceful without any raids'. He also said that though he wished to have that life back, he 'continues to have fun' with his present.