Vijay's next release was Nanban, the Tamil remake of the Bollywood film 3 Idiots, where he played the role which was played by Aamir Khan in the original.
Directed by S. Shankar, it was released during the Pongal weekend of 2012 and emerged a major financial success.
Nanban was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia.
Vijay's performance in the film was praised by critics, including leading Indian actor Kamal Haasan.
Nanban went on to complete 100 days theatrical run.
He made a special appearance in the 2012 Bollywood film Rowdy Rathore, starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Prabhu Deva.
Vijay's next film, the action thriller Thuppakki, directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by S. Dhanu, was released on Diwali 2012 to mostly positive reviews.
The film became the third Tamil film to enter the ₹1 billion (US$14 million) club after Sivaji (2007) and Enthiran (2010).
Thuppakki became the highest-grossing film of Vijay's career at the time, and the first of his films to gross over ₹1,800,000,000.
His next film Thalaivaa, directed by A. L. Vijay, was released on 9 August 2013 worldwide and had a delayed release in Tamil Nadu.
 
His next film Jilla, co-starring Kajal Aggarwal and Mohanlal, and directed by R. T. Neason, was released on a Pongal weekend in 2014 and ended up as a box office hit.

Vijay again worked with AR Murugadoss in the action thriller Kaththi, co-starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Neil Nitin Mukesh and produced by Ayngaran International, which was released on Diwali 2014 to mostly positive reviews.
He played a dual role for the third time.
It was the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of 2014.

In 2015, the fairy tale fantasy film Puli was released.
Chimbu Deven was reported to be working on a "fantasy film set in contemporary times" in January 2011 for UTV Motion Pictures, for which Dhanush was signed to play the leading role.
The film was titled as Maareesan was supposed to start filming in late 2011, however, in October 2011, UTV Motion Pictures left the project citing the escalating budget and Aascar Films replaced them as producers.
The project later collapsed, though during the production of his Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavaanikalum (2014) in late 2013, Deven restarted preliminary work on the fantasy film and narrated the script to Vijay, who expressed interest in being a part of the project.
Subsequently, the project found producers in P. T. Selvakumar, Vijay's press relations officer, and Shibu of Thameen Films, who have previously distributed several of Vijay's films across Kerala.
The two producers came together to form a new production house SKT Films and announced that production would begin after the completion of Vijay's casting in Murugadoss' Kaththi.
Puli received mixed reviews from critics, though Vijay was praised for venturing into a new genre.

In September 2014, Kalaipuli S. Thanu signed on to finance a project directed by Atlee, which would star Vijay.
Several titles for the film including Moondru Mugam, Vetri, Thuppaki 2, Khakee and Thaarumaaru were considered, before the makers finalised Theri in late November 2015.
In the same month, it was revealed that the film was "70% complete".
Action scenes, choreographed by Dhilip Subbarayan were filmed throughout the month, though the shootwas disrupted by the heavy flooding in Chennai.
Hollywood action choreographer Kaloyan Vodenicharov worked with the team in early December 2015 to help shoot the climax portions for the film, however, poor climatic conditions in China meant that the team had to abandon their idea of filming sequences there and instead opted to shoot in Bangkok.
Sets were erected in a factory in Chennai to shoot the climax scenes, with stunt choreographer Vodenicharov recruited to help train artistes and film the sequences during December 2015.
The action-thriller Theri was released in April 2016 to positive reviews.
It was the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of 2016 and Vijay's second film to gross over ₹1,720,000,000.


His next, the masala film Bairavaa, directed by Bharathan, co-starring Keerthy Su
Vijay's next release was Nanban, the Tamil remake of the Bollywood film 3 Idiots, where he played the role which was played by Aamir Khan in the original. Directed by S. Shankar, it was released during the Pongal weekend of 2012 and emerged a major financial success. Nanban was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival in Australia. Vijay's performance in the film was praised by critics, including leading Indian actor Kamal Haasan. Nanban went on to complete 100 days theatrical run. He made a special appearance in the 2012 Bollywood film Rowdy Rathore, starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Prabhu Deva. Vijay's next film, the action thriller Thuppakki, directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by S. Dhanu, was released on Diwali 2012 to mostly positive reviews. The film became the third Tamil film to enter the ₹1 billion (US$14 million) club after Sivaji (2007) and Enthiran (2010). Thuppakki became the highest-grossing film of Vijay's career at the time, and the first of his films to gross over ₹1,800,000,000. His next film Thalaivaa, directed by A. L. Vijay, was released on 9 August 2013 worldwide and had a delayed release in Tamil Nadu.  
His next film Jilla, co-starring Kajal Aggarwal and Mohanlal, and directed by R. T. Neason, was released on a Pongal weekend in 2014 and ended up as a box office hit.
Vijay again worked with AR Murugadoss in the action thriller Kaththi, co-starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Neil Nitin Mukesh and produced by Ayngaran International, which was released on Diwali 2014 to mostly positive reviews. He played a dual role for the third time. It was the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of 2014.
In 2015, the fairy tale fantasy film Puli was released. Chimbu Deven was reported to be working on a "fantasy film set in contemporary times" in January 2011 for UTV Motion Pictures, for which Dhanush was signed to play the leading role. The film was titled as Maareesan was supposed to start filming in late 2011, however, in October 2011, UTV Motion Pictures left the project citing the escalating budget and Aascar Films replaced them as producers. The project later collapsed, though during the production of his Oru Kanniyum Moonu Kalavaanikalum (2014) in late 2013, Deven restarted preliminary work on the fantasy film and narrated the script to Vijay, who expressed interest in being a part of the project. Subsequently, the project found producers in P. T. Selvakumar, Vijay's press relations officer, and Shibu of Thameen Films, who have previously distributed several of Vijay's films across Kerala. The two producers came together to form a new production house SKT Films and announced that production would begin after the completion of Vijay's casting in Murugadoss' Kaththi. Puli received mixed reviews from critics, though Vijay was praised for venturing into a new genre.
In September 2014, Kalaipuli S. Thanu signed on to finance a project directed by Atlee, which would star Vijay. Several titles for the film including Moondru Mugam, Vetri, Thuppaki 2, Khakee and Thaarumaaru were considered, before the makers finalised Theri in late November 2015. In the same month, it was revealed that the film was "70% complete". Action scenes, choreographed by Dhilip Subbarayan were filmed throughout the month, though the shootwas disrupted by the heavy flooding in Chennai. Hollywood action choreographer Kaloyan Vodenicharov worked with the team in early December 2015 to help shoot the climax portions for the film, however, poor climatic conditions in China meant that the team had to abandon their idea of filming sequences there and instead opted to shoot in Bangkok. Sets were erected in a factory in Chennai to shoot the climax scenes, with stunt choreographer Vodenicharov recruited to help train artistes and film the sequences during December 2015. The action-thriller Theri was released in April 2016 to positive reviews. It was the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of 2016 and Vijay's second film to gross over ₹1,720,000,000.

His next, the masala film Bairavaa, directed by Bharathan, co-starring Keerthy Su
Vijay (actor)