I gave up cinema to stand up for fans who offered me everything, including ''kottai'': Vijay
Chennai (PTI): At the much-awaited audio launch event of his movie 'Jana Nayagan' in Malaysia, actor-politician Vijay has said he decided to "give up cinema" to "stand up" for his fans who offered him everything, including a 'kottai' (fort).
In Tamil Nadu, the word 'Kottai' (meaning fort) symbolises someone's bastion as well as Fort St George, a British-built fortress, that houses the state’s legislative Assembly, Secretariat and Chief Minister’s office since independence.
"When I entered the cinema, I thought I was building a small sand house here. But you all have built me a palace. Fans helped me build a fort… That’s why I’ve decided to stand for them. For the fans who gave up everything for me, I’m giving up cinema itself," the actor said.
The audio launch was organised at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on December 27, drawing nearly 1 lakh fans and entering the Malaysian Book of Records for the largest audience at such an event. Malaysia is home world's largest Tamil diaspora after Sri Lanka.
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Thanking Malaysian fans particularly, Vijay said, “If you want to succeed in life, you may not need friends, but you need a strong enemy. Only when there's a strong enemy, you become stronger. So, in 2026, history will repeat. Let us be ready to welcome it for the people. Thank you, Malaysia."
Billed as 'Thalapathy Thiruvizha', the five-to-six-hour extravaganza marked Vijay's cinematic farewell before his political innings.
The event featured live performances and emotional speeches amid tightened security and a strict no-politics directive from Malaysian police. Singers like Tippu, Anuradha Sriram, and Saindhavi electrified the stage, building on hits like singles "Thalapathy Kacheri" and "Oru Pere Varalaaru," which had already won fan acclaim.
Industry veterans got emotional while talking about their interactions with the mega star.
Veteran actor Nasser delivered a tearful speech, thanking Vijay for aiding his son's recovery and supporting Nadigar Sangam construction. He invoked Vijay's “Pokkiri” dialogue, stating that the star lives true to his dialogue, “Oru Thadava Mudivu Pannita”, (once I made up my mind…). But he urged Vijay to make an exception this time and reconsider retirement, as he is "critic-proof" and irreplaceable for fans and the industry.
Actor Pooja Hegde, Vijay's co-star in the film, recalled how professional and humble he is and expressed her sadness over his final film. Their first film together, “Beast”, gave her a forever hit in the song “Arabic Kuthu”, she added, thanking the fans.
Speaking at the event, the director of the film, H Vinoth, promised 100% entertainment despite low hype.
This film's Music director, Anirudh Ravichander, delivered a 45-minute tribute with medleys of the hits of actor. Legends of Tamil cinema, directors Atlee, Nelson and Lokesh Kanagaraj, shared their experiences with the actor.
The apolitical gathering, permitted strictly as entertainment, highlighted Vijay's global pull three years after his last Malaysia visit.
'Jana Nayagan', starring Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamitha Baiju, Prakash Raj, Gautham Menon, Priyamani, and Naren, releases worldwide on January 9, 2026, for Pongal, clashing with Prabhas' "The Raja Saab" and Red Giant Movies' "Parasakthi" starring Sivakarthikeyan.
The audio launch event will be telecast on Zee Tamil on January 4, 2026.
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Grok obscene AI content: X submits response, IT Ministry examining it, say sources
New Delhi (PTI): The IT Ministry is examining the response and submissions made by X following a government directive to crack down on misuse of artificial intelligence chatbot Grok by users for the creation of sexualised and obscene images of women and minors, sources said.
X had been given extended time until Wednesday, 5 PM to submit a detailed Action Taken Report to the ministry, after a stern warning was issued to the Elon Musk-led social media platform over indecent and sexually-explicit content being generated through misuse of AI-based services like 'Grok' and other tools.
Sources told PTI that X has submitted their response, and it is under examination.
The details of X's submission were, however, not immediately known.
On Sunday, X's 'Safety' handle said it takes action against illegal content on its platform, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary.
"Anyone using or prompting Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content," X had said, reiterating the stance taken by Musk on illegal content.
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On January 2, the IT Ministry pulled up X and directed it to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, especially generated by Grok (X's built-in artificial intelligence interface) or face action under the law.
In the directive on Friday, the ministry asked the US-based social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours, spelling out specific technical and organisational measures adopted or proposed in relation to the Grok application; the role and oversight exercised by the Chief Compliance Officer; actions taken against offending content, users and accounts; as well as mechanisms to ensure compliance with the mandatory reporting requirement under Indian laws.
The IT Ministry, in the ultimatum issued, noted that Grok AI, developed by X and integrated on the platform, is being misused by users to create fake accounts to host, generate, publish or share obscene images or videos of women in a derogatory or vulgar manner.
"Importantly, this is not limited to creation of fake accounts but also targets women who host or publish their images or videos, through prompts, image manipulation and synthetic outputs," the ministry said, asserting that such conduct reflects a serious failure of platform-level safeguards and enforcement mechanisms, and amounts to gross misuse of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in violation of stipulated laws.
The government made it clear to X that compliance with the IT Act and rules is not optional, and that the statutory exemptions under section 79 of the IT Act (which deals with safe harbour and immunity from liability for online intermediaries) are conditional upon strict observance of due diligence obligations.
"Accordingly, you are advised to strictly desist from the hosting, displaying, uploading, publication, transmission, storage, sharing of any content on your platform that is obscene, pornographic, vulgar, indecent, sexually explicit, paedophilic, or otherwise prohibited under any law...," the ministry said.
The government warned X in clear terms that any failure to observe due diligence obligations shall result in the loss of the exemption from liability under section 79 of the IT Act, and that the platform will also be liable for consequential action under other laws, including the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
It asked X to enforce user terms of service and AI usage restrictions, including ensuring strong deterrent measures such as suspension, termination and other enforcement actions against violating users and accounts.
X has also been asked to remove or disable access "without delay" to all content already generated or disseminated in violation of applicable laws, in strict compliance with the timelines prescribed under the IT Rules, 2021, without, as such, vitiating the evidence.
Besides India, the platform has drawn flak in the UK and Malaysia too. Ofcom, the UK's independent communications regulator, in a recent social media post, said: "We are aware of serious concerns raised about a feature on Grok on X that produces undressed images of people and sexualised images of children".
"We have made urgent contact with X and xAI to understand what steps they have taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues that warrant investigation," Ofcom said.
