H Raja speaks to India Today: Mersal superhit, BJP to thank?

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) opposition to Vijay-starrer Mersal had little impact on the film's fortunes. In fact, it may just have provided the film immense publicity. Mersal is now headed to the 200 crore club and Vijay is now heading for a political debut.

BJP leader H Raja speaks to India Today's Padmaja Joshi on whether the saffron party has made Mersal a much bigger hit than it otherwise would have been.

"In my tweet with regard to GST, I have not referred to any religion. Vijay wanted to project a wrong image of the central government and GST. I have taken objection to that," said Raja.

The film found itself in a political debate after Raja communalised the issue by referring to the lead actor as 'Joseph' Vijay. In fact, the BJP leader was severely criticised for sharing Vijay's personal details like Voter ID on Twitter.