In 2011 Vijay's career prospects improved after he was praised for his role as a bodyguard in "Kaavalan". The following year he appeared in two films: as a college student in "Nanban" and an army officer in "Thuppakki". His performances in both films received positive critical feedback, He followed that with A. L. Vijay's "Thalaivaa" (2013) and the multi-starrer "Jilla" (2014). The latter featured him along with Mohanlal. Both films were successful. He teamed up with Murugadoss again for the action film "Kaththi" (2014). The film, which had Vijay playing dual roles as a thief and an idealist, became one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of that year. He featured as a tribal warrior in his next film, "Puli" (2015); it was a commercial failure. The following year, he played a police officer in "Theri" (2016). The film had one of the biggest openings in Tamil cinema, grossing 1.51.56 billion worldwide, and is among the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time.