Claim: A video shows Indian actor-turned-politician Chandrasekhar Joseph Vijay, famously known as Thalapathy Vijay, thanking Muslims by praying namaz in a mosque after he became Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister.
Fact: The clip predates his election as Chief Minister. It is from this year’s Ramazan in March 2026, when Vijay’s political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), hosted an iftar for the Muslim community in Chennai.
On 11 May 2026, a Facebook page named SH News posted a 40-second video. The clip shows Vijay standing alongside several other men and praying namaz. Other visuals include him entering a community hall, wearing a white shirt and white prayer cap as he engages with other people.
The text block on the video read:
تھلا پتی وجے وزیر اعلیٰ بننے کے بعد سیدھا مسجد پہنچ گئے، مسلمانوں کا شکریہ ادا کیا اور نماز میں بھی شریک ہوئے۔”
Translation: [Talapathy Vijay went to a mosque right after becoming Chief Minister. He thanked Muslims and also prayed namaz.]
The video was also shared on X with a similar caption.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a reverse-image search of the video which led to an Instagram reel, posted on 18 March 2026 by a page named The Observer Post.
The reel’s caption reads, “Tamil actor Vijay, popularly known as Thalapathy Vijay, attended an iftar gathering during Ramadan and offered prayers at the event. Visuals from the gathering have been widely shared on social media.”
In the video, Vijay can be seen standing between the same two men who are also visible in the video being fact-checked as well.
Left: Instagram reel posted by The Observer Post on 18 March 2026. Right: Facebook reel posted by SHN News on 11 May 2026.
The reverse-image search also led to an Instagram reel posted by the Indian news outlet Asian News International (ANI) on 7 March 2026. They reported in their caption, “TVK Chief Vijay participates in an iftar party hosted by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam in Chennai.”
Moreover, Vijay was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu on 10 May 2026, three months after his visit to the mosque, confirming that the clip is unrelated to his recent election as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.
Virality
The video was shared on X here, here, and here.
The clip is also posted here, here, here, and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: The video does not show Indian politician Thalapathy Vijay offering prayers at a mosque after he was elected Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The clip predates his election and is from March 2026 when his political party hosted an iftar in Chennai, in the month of Ramazan.
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