was followed by the films Endrendrum Kadhal, Nenjinile, and Minsara Kanna. In 2000, he performed in Kannukkul Nilavu, which was Vijay's 25th critically successful film, alongside two commercially successful romance films, Kushi and Priyamaanavale. His next successful films were Friends, Badri and Shahjahan. In 2002, he starred in the action film Thamizhan alongside Hindi actress Priyanka Chopra. Later, he featured in the romantic film Youth and the action film Bagavathi. Vijay began 2003 with the comedy film Vaseegara and the supernatural film Pudhiya Geethai. 2003–2011: Star status in Tamil cinema Following the action-romance flick Thirumalai in 2003, Ghilli, a film directed by S. Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam, was released. It co-starred Trisha and Prakash Raj with Vijay as the lead. Ghilli was the first Tamil film of all time to gross over 500 million, or 50 crore, in the domestic box office. The film grossed nearly $500,000 in the Malaysian market. Ghilli also broke the record for the most people seeing a movie in the first week of its release, previously held by M. G. Ramachandran's Adimai Penn (1969). Ghilli received favourable reviews. The Hindu stated that "Vijay, the hero whom the masses today identify with, and Prakash Raj, the inimitable villain in tow, this flick, "Ghilli"...on a winning track". Ghilli was followed by commercially successful films Madhurey and Thirupaachi in 2005. Later, Vijay starred in the commercially and critically successful films Sachein, Sivakasi and Pokkiri. Pokkiri was one of the highest-grossing films in his career at that time. In late 2007, Vijay starred in the romantic thriller film Azhagiya Tamil Magan, where he played the role of the protagonist and antagonist at the same time. Azhagiya Tamil Magan collected $1.043 million overseas, a top grosser at overseas box offices in 2007. Screen Daily, a British magazine, reported that Azhagiya Tamil Magan had entered the top ten Asian films box office hit chart in Malaysia in 2007. Barring the commercially successful Vettaikaaran (2009), all of his subsequent releases from Azhagiya Tamil Magan, Kuruvi and Villu were average successes; all three films were more successful overseas. In 2009, Vijay became one of the highest paid actors in South India. In 2010, he acted in the action comedy film Sura, which was a box office failure. In early 2011, Vijay joined up with director Siddique for the romantic comedy Kaavalan. It received positive responses from both viewers and critics,