Vijay (actor)

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Vijay

Vijay in 2018

Born Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar

22 June 1974 (age 45)[1]

Madras, Tamil
Nadu, India (now Chennai)

Nationality Indian

Alma mater Loyola College, Chennai

Occupation Film actor, playback singer


Years active 1984–1988 (child
actor)
 1992–present (lead
actor)
Spouse(s) Sangeeta Sornalingam
(m. 1999)
Children 2
Parent(s)  S. A.
 Chandrasekhar (father)
 Shoba (mother)
Relatives See Chandrasekhar family
C. Joseph Vijay[2] (born 22 June 1974) is an Indian film actor, playback
singer and dancer who works in Tamil cinema. Referred to by fans and media
as Thalapathy (commander), Vijay is the highest paid actor and one of the
most significant figures in the industry. [3] By 2017, he became the second-
highest grossing actor in Tamil cinema history, behind Rajinikanth.[4] As of
2019, Vijay has acted in 64 films as a lead actor and won numerous
awards including three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, eight Vijay Awards,
an Indiatoday Award, SIIMA Award, Cosmopolitan Award and National
Film Award UK, three Edison Awards and two Vikatan Awards. He received
an honorary doctorate from the Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research
Institute of the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University in 2007 for his
contributions to social welfare and in honour of his achievements in the film
industry. He has been included five times in the Forbes India Celebrity 100
list, based on the earnings of Indian celebrities.

At 10 years old, Vijay's first role was in the drama Vetri (1984); he continued

to perform as a child artist in films until Ithu Engal Neethi (1988), directed by
his father S. A. Chandrasekhar. He then featured as the lead in Naalaiya
Theerpu (1992), again directed by his father. He received his breakthrough in
the film Poove Unakkaga (1996), which was directed by Vikraman.[5] Vijay
began the new millennium with successful films such
as Kushi and Priyamaanavale.[6] The success of his masala
film Thirumalai (2003), where he was paired opposite Jyothika, changed his
on-screen persona to that of an action hero.[7] He appeared next as
a kabaddi player opposite Trisha in Dharani's Ghilli (2004), which went on to
become the most commercially successful Tamil film of the year and the first
Tamil film to earn ₹500 million (Indian rupees).[8] His performance
in Thirupaachi (2005) earned him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special
Prize.[9] Vijay continued to achieve commercial success during the 2000s with
films including Sivakasi (2005) and Pokkiri (2007).

In 2011, Vijay's career prospects improved after he was praised for his role as
a bodyguard in Kaavalan.[10] 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. [11] He followed
that with A. L. Vijay's Thalaivaa (2013) and the multi-starrer Jilla (2014).
Again, he teamed up with AR Murugadoss for the action film Kaththi (2014)
where he had played dual roles as a thief and an idealist. It became one of the
highest-grossing Tamil films of 2014.[12] In 2016, he played a police officer
in Atlee Kumar's Theri which had one of the biggest openings in Tamil
cinema, grossing ₹1.5—1.56 billion worldwide, and is among the highest-
grossing Tamil films of all time.[13] He played triple roles for the first time in
the film Mersal (2017), his second collaboration with Atlee.[14] It became the
highest-grossing film of Vijay's career and was also released in Japan in four
major cities: Tokyo, Ebina, Osako and Nakaya.

Early life and family

Vijay was born on 22 June 1974[1] as Joseph Vijay in Madras (now Chennai).

His father S. A. Chandrasekhar is a Tamil film director and his
mother Shoba is a playback singer and carnatic vocalist. He had a sister
Vidhya, who died when she was two years old. His sisters death affected
Vijay greatly; according to his mother, Vijay, who was very talkative,
naughty and hyperactive as a child, became silent after Vidhya's death.
[15]
 Vidhya's story is depicted in the 2005 film Sukran, in which Vijay played
an extended cameo.[16][better  source  needed]

He is a Roman Catholic, and received his first Holy Communion at a church

in Chennai.[17] Initially attending Fathima Matriculation Higher Secondary
School[18] at Kodambakkam, he later joined Balalok Matriculation Higher
Secondary School[19] at Virugambakkam and went on to pursue a degree in
Visual Communications from Loyola College. He eventually dropped out as
he was more interested in acting.[15]

Film career
See also: Vijay filmography and Vijay discography

1984–1988

At the age of 10, Vijay started his film career as a child actor in the
film Vetri (1984) and then performed as child actor in films such
as Kudumbam (1984), Vasantha Raagam (1986), Sattam Oru
Vilayaattu (1987) and Ithu Engal Neethi (1988). He also performed as child
actor in Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985) co-starring Rajinikanth as lead actor.

1992–1996

After performing as a child artist in the films directed by his father, Vijay
started featuring in lead roles at the age of 18 from Naalaiya Theerpu (1992).
[20]
 Vijay appeared alongside Vijayakanth in Sendhoorapandi (1993), which
performed well only to a certain extent at the box office. [21] In 1994, his
film Rasigan was released, which can be deemed as his first success but not
acclaimed by critics.[22] This was the first film in which Vijay was credited
with the prefix Ilaya Thalapathy (young commander), an epithet by which he
became popularly known among fans and the media for the rest of his career.
[23]
 He had lead roles in films such as Deva and Rajavin Parvaiyile, wherein
the latter he co-starred with actor Ajith Kumar. He then acted in the romantic
comedy Vishnu and the romantic tragedy Chandralekha. In early 1995, he
starred in Coimbatore Mappillai a romantic comedy film.

1996–2003

In 1996, Vijay performed in the Vikraman-directed Poove Unakkaga, which

became his first acclaimed performance as well as the breakthrough in Vijay's
career and made him a recognizable star.[24] Vijay's tenth film Vasantha
Vasal was followed by the action films Maanbumigu Maanavan and Selva. In
1997, Vijay acted in Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen, Love Today and Once
More, where he co-starred with veteran Tamil film actor Sivaji Ganesan and
actress Simran, and in the Mani Ratnam-produced movie Nerukku Ner,
directed by Vasanth and co-starring debutant Suriya, the eldest son of
actor Sivakumar. Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, directed by Fazil, earned Vijay
a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. It is the remake of Fazil's
own Malayalam film Aniyathipraavu. In 1998, Vijay worked in the
movies Ninaithen Vandhai, Priyamudan and Nilaave Vaa, the first one being
the remake of Telugu film Pelli Sandadi. In 1999, Vijay acted in
debutant Ezhil's Thulladha Manamum Thullum, with Simran, which ran for
more than 200 days at the Tamil Nadu box office and earned Vijay a Tamil
Nadu State Film Award for Best Film.[25] This was followed by Endrendrum
Kadhal, Nenjinile and Minsara Kanna, with the latter being a K. S.
Ravikumar direction.

From 2000, Vijay began to commit to entertaining ventures, which marked a

change in trend. In 2000, he performed in Kannukkul Nilavu directed by Fazil
again, and two romantic movies Kushi and Priyamaanavale, the latter being
the remake of Telugu film Pavitra Bandham. His 2001 comedy-
drama film Friends was directed by Siddique and featured him in the leading
role alongside Suriya again. Vijay also performed in Badri, an action
film remake of the Telugu film Thammudu, and the romantic
movie Shahjahan. In 2002, he starred in the action
film Thamizhan alongside Priyanka Chopra, making her acting debut before
establishing herself as a leading Bollywood actress.[26] Later, he featured in
the romantic film Youth and the action film Bagavathi, the former being the
remake of Telugu film Chiru Navvuto. Vijay began 2003 with the
films Vaseegara and Pudhiya Geethai, the former being the remake of
Telugu film Nuvvu Naaku Nachav.

2003–2010

In late 2003, Vijay starred in the action-romance flick Thirumalai, co-

starring Jyothika, directed by debutant Ramana and produced by K.
Balachander's Kavithalaya Productions, which featured him in a different
way. Thirumalai was considered a turning point in Vijay's career. [27] Udhaya,
which began production in 1998 and filming in 2002, but was delayed, was
finally released in early 2004. Ghilli, a remake of the Telugu
film Okkadu was released next in 2004, and completed 200 days in theatres
in Tamil Nadu. Directed by S. Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam, it
co-starred Trisha and Prakash Raj.[28] Ghilli is the first Tamil film of all time
to gross over ₹500 million in the domestic box office.[29] This was the time in
which Vijay transformed himself from a romantic hero into an action hero.