He turned villain in Thupparivaalan (2017) and has played negative roles in several films including Doctor (2021), Etharkkum Thunindhavan (2022), Oh My Dog (2022) Christopher (2023), Veeran (2023), Gandeevadhari Arjuna (2023), Hanu-Man (2024), and Identity (2025).
He was supposed to play the lead role in Gandhi Krishna's Ananda Thandavam but was later replaced by newcomer Siddharth Venugopal.
The film, starring Kajal Aggarwal and Kalabhavan Mani, opened to mixed reviews from critics and became a box office failure.
[23] His next release was Serndhu Polama (2015), co-starring Nyra Banerjee and Preethi Christina Paul, and directed by Malayalam film director Anil.
The film opened to positive reviews with a critic from Sify claiming that "Vinay Rai as the ruthless baddie is a revelation".
[23][8] The film opened to negative reviews with a critic from IndiaGlitz stating, "Vinay who just impressed with his heartless killer in Thupparivaalan can forget Aayirathil Iruvar in a hurry as both his characters are written wafer thin with no underlying subtext for him to score".
[28] In 2021, his films were Iruvar Ullam that was delayed after years and Nelson's action comedy, Doctor opposing the actor Sivakarthikeyan.
[31] He also playing a bad guy in Arun Vijay’s Oh My Dog produced by Suriya and Jyothika under the banner of 2D Entertainment.