Did President Anura Kumara Dissanayake issued a ban on Thalapathy Vijay’s films?

Social media posts containing information regarding famous figures are regularly shared through social media platforms. It is also common to see misleading posts regarding these famous figures being rapidly shared across these platforms. Accordingly, this is a fact-check of a post that is currently circulating on social media regarding the South Indian film actor Thalapathy Vijay.

Social Media Posts :

Along with portraits of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Indian film actor Thapathy Vijay, a social media post was circulated with the statement, “President Anura commands to ban the films starring Thalapathy Vijay in Sri Lanka.” It appears that this social media post was published on the official News First Facebook page on the 15th. However, this social media post does not mention anything about the reasons behind the President’s order.

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Many people had expressed their opinions on this, and some others have shared this on their accounts, believing it to be true.

Therefore, here’s how we investigated this to find the accuracy of this post.

Fact Check :

Actor Thaplapathy Vijay announced his retirement from acting and entry into politics in 2024, and has now started his political campaign targeting the 2026 Tamil Nadu state elections. Addressing a political rally of his party on the 21st, he requested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reclaim the Katchatheevu island to India. These social media posts are being shared in the midst of his claims.

However, as the post which claimed that the President ordered a ban on his films being broadcasted in Sri Lanka, was posted according to the News First media channel structure, we checked the Facebook page of News First channel. However, we did not observe any such post published in the page either on 15th or any date close to it.

We contacted News First’s media department to further confirm this, and the assistant manager confirmed that the circulating social media post was not posted by their official Facebook page. He further stated that they have not posted any news related to Indian actor Thalapathy Vijay on their official Facebook page recently.

However, a photo of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake similar to the one included in the circulated social media post can be seen in another news item related to the Cyber Security Act which was posted on the News First Facebook page on the 15th.

Thus, it is clear that the Facebook post posted by News First regarding the preparation of the Cyber Security Act has been altered and a photo of Indian actor Thalapathy Vijay has been included in this post.

However, in order to further clarify this matter and confirm the facts, we also contacted with the Presidential Media Division and the Public Performance Board regarding the post circulating on social media.

Presidential Media Divison

The Presidential Media Division stated that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has not issued such a statement, and that the circulating social media post is false.

Public Performance Board

The Public Performance Board also confirmed that they haven’t taken such a decision.

Thalapathy Vijay requests Indian Prime Minister to claim back Katchatheevu

Katchatheevu, a major issue in the history of Tamil Nadu election campaigns, has become a major issue in the upcoming 2026 general election platforms as well. Accordingly, the Daily News reported on the 23rd that actor Thalapathy Vijay, the leader of the Tamil Vetri Karalam (TVK) party, had also requested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to claim back the island of Katchatheevu to India, while addressing a political rally. It further stated that Vijay had alleged that the Sri Lankan Navy had destroyed the livelihoods of more than 800 Indian fishermen.

Meanwhile, on the 22nd, TIMES OF INDIA had reported that it was a major topic of leader Thalapathy Vijay’s speech at the main rally of the Tamil Vetri Karalam (TVK) party held in Madurai on the 21st of August. There, he criticized the Tamil Nadu state government and trade unions for failing to protect the state’s fishermen, and has requested the Indian Prime Minister to claim back the island. More news articles here. Below is the full speech made at the political rally on the 21st of August, by Thalapathy Vijay demanding the reclaim of Katchatheevu isaland.

South Indian actor Thalapathy Vijay announced his retirement from acting and entry into politics in February last year. On February 2, he launched the Tamilaha Vetri Karalam party and in a statement, he stated that after two films, he would retire from cinema to enter politics full-time. At the time, he was filming the film ‘GOAT’. More information here.

He is currently filming his upcoming film Jana Nayagan, which is scheduled to be released in January next year (2026), after which he is set to retire from film industry.

A group of Tamil representatives of the parliament in Sri Lanka had wrote a letter to Vijay at that time, requesting him to reconsider the release date of his film, ‘Leo’, asking the release of the film to be postponed to October 19, 2023. The reason for this was that a group of Tamil MPs in this country had planned a protest on October 20^th. They stated that the film’s release on October 19th will focus the attention of Tamil people on the film, and so that their efforts to win the rights of the Tamil people in the country could be undermined. But that request was not considered and the film Leo was screened in Sri Lanka on October 19. Reports on that can be found here, here and here.

How Katchatheevu Island Became a Part of Sri Lanka

Katchatheevu, which is about 285 acres in area is one of the islands of Sri Lanka and the furthest island from Sri Lanka. It is also said that there are natural petroleum and gas deposits in the vicinity of Katchatheevu, a sparsely populated area important for fishing activities. The most special thing about Katchatheevu island is the mass at St. Anthony’s Church, which has been going on for hundreds of years. Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen jointly hold the St. Anthony’s Mass at Katchatheevu every year in February or March.

During the war, the annual mass was halted, but it resumed after the war ended. Although Indian nationals are normally required to follow immigration regulations to enter the Katchatheevu Island, Indian devotees can participate in the mass at the St. Anthony’s Church without a visa.

However, the debate whether who owns the island of Katchatheevu has been prevailed throughout the history. On June 26th, 1974, an agreement was signed between Prime Minister Sirimavo Banadaranaike and the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which granted the ownership of the island to Sri Lanka. According to the agreement, Katchatheevu Island is not a part of India and is a part of the Sri Lankan territory. Furthermore, according to another agreement signed by the leaders of India and Sri Lanka in 1976, Indian fishermen lost permission to fish in the vicinity of Katchatheevu Island. Accordingly, the India-Sri Lankan fisheries issues that have arisen regarding island-based fisheries and the maritime boundary around Katchatheevu Island continue to be drawn out.

The story of Katchatheevu Island is a major topic in South Indian politics. Since then, all South Indian politicians and the South Indian fishing community have been seen to be implying pressure and making demands on the central government to reclaim Kachchatheevu. More details here.

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Conclusion :

Our investigation into the facts reveals that the President has not issued any order banning the screening of films starring South Indian actor Thalapathy Vijay. Furthermore, it is clear that this social media post is a fake social media post that was created by distorting a post posted on the official News First Facebook page on the 15th and including a photo of Tamil actor Thalapathy Vijay.