The eleventh edition of popular Tamil film awards, Ananda Vikatan Cinema awards was held on Saturday in Chennai. The star-studded event was attended by the most of the Tamil film celebrities including legendary actor Kamal Haasan.

Thalapathy Vijay won the best actor award for his terrific acting in Atlee's blockbuster film Mersal. The film starred the Tamil superstar in triple roles along with Samantha, Kajal Aggarwal and Nithya Menen.

Upon its release, Mersal landed in controversy due to the GST dialogues in the film. Several BJP leaders slammed Vijay for speaking against GST including H Raja, a national secretary of the BJP and Tamil Nadu leader claimed that Vijay hates PM Modi because he is christian.

Vijay received a huge welcome at the event when the anchors announced the best actor's name as 'Joseph Vijay'.

During his speech just after winning the best actor trophy, Vijay had stated that he was not surprised by the controversy that Mersal generated across the India. He further added that he went ahead with the dialogues in the film despite the controversy because it was for the good of the people.

"I have to thank everyone who supported me through the entire episode. We knew that the dialogues will create problems. But we still went ahead with them because it was for the good of the people", Vijay said.

"When the organizers called me for Vikatan Cinema awards, the first thing I asked who I was presenting an award to. But it was a pleasant surprise when they told me that I was the winner", Vijay revealed.