Days ahead of the scheduled release of Mersal, actor Vijay met with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami at the latter’s residence in Chennai on Sunday.

According to reports, Vijay thanked the CM for lowering the local body entertainment tax to 8% from the earlier 10%. The government’s decision to lower the tax has paved the way for the release of his upcoming film, scheduled for a Deepavali opening.

The Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) had earlier protested the local body tax by not releasing any new Tamil film from October 6.

On Friday, following days of negotiations between TFPC and other film bodies and the state government, a decision was taken to lower the local body entertainment tax on Tamil films. The Tamil Nadu government has also revised ticket rates for screens across the state. A GO notifying the new rates of admission is expected on Monday.

In Mersal, Vijay will be seen playing three roles - that of a panchayat head, a doctor and a magician. The film, which also stars Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nithya Menen, marks the second collaboration of Atlee and Vijay. Produced by Sri Thenandal Studios, the film has music by AR Rahman and also stars SJ Suryah in a key role.

Mersal is scheduled to hit theatres for Deepavali on October 18.