Personal life
Vijay was born on 22 June 1974 in Madras (now
Chennai). His father,
S. A. Chandrasekhar, is a popular Tamil film director and his mother,
Shoba Chandrasekhar, is a reputed playback singer and carnatic vocalist. He had a sister, Vidhya, who died when she was two years old. Vidhya's death affected Vijay very much. It has been said by his mother that Vijay, who was very talkative, naughty and hyperactive as a child, became silent after Vidhya's death.
[5] Vidhya Chandrasekhar's story is depicted in the 2005 film
Sukran, where Vijay played an extended cameo.
[6] He currently engages in social service in the name of Vidhya.
[5] His cousin, Vikranth, is also a film actor,
[7] while his uncle,
S. N. Surendar, is a playback singer and voice actor.
[8]
Vijay spent his entire childhood in Chennai. He did his schooling at Balalok Matriculation Higher Secondary School at
Virugambakkam and went on to pursue a degree in Visual Communications from
Loyola College, though he would eventually drop out as he was more interested in pursuing acting. He also had a craze for cars, learning to drive at the age of 13.
[5]
Vijay married a
London-based
Sri Lankan Tamil, Sangeetha Sornalingam, on 25 August 1999.
[9] They have two children, a son Sanjay born in 2000 in London,
[10] and a daughter Divya born in 2005 in Chennai.
[11] Jason Sanjay made a cameo appearance with his father in
Vettaikaaran (2009) and Divya portrayed a small role as her father's pre-teen daughter in
Theri (2016).
Career
1992–1996
After appearing as child artist in the films directed by his father, Vijay made his acting debut as lead actor under the age of eighteen with
Naalaiya Theerpu (1992).
[12] Vijay appeared alongside Vijayakanth in
Sendhoorapandi (1993) which did well at the box-office.
[13] In 1994, he appeared in
Rasigan which became a successful venture.
[14] This was the first film in which Vijay was credited with the prefix "Ilaya Thalapathy" (young commander-in-chief), an epithet by which he became popularly known among fans and the media for the rest of his career.
[15] He had lead roles in films like
Deva, and
Rajavin Parvaiyile where he co-starred with another actor
Ajith Kumar, who played a supporting role. He then acted in the romantic comedy
Vishnu and romantic tragedy
Chandralekha later. In early 1995, he starred in
Coimbatore Mappillai a
romantic comedy film.
1996–2003
Vijay's next film was the
Vikraman directed
Poove Unakkaga which was his first commercial success and made him a recognizable star.
[16] Vijay's tenth film
Vasantha Vasal was followed by the action movies
Maanbumigu Maanavan and
Selva and the romantic film
Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen. In 1997 Vijay acted in
Love Today and
Once More, where he co-starred with the Tamil film actor
Sivaji Ganesan and actress
Simran, and in the
Mani Ratnam produced movie
Nerukku Ner, directed by
Vasanth.
Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, directed by
Fazil, earned Vijay a
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. In 1998, Vijay worked in the movies
Ninaithen Vandhai,
Priyamudan and
Nilaave Vaa. In 1999, Vijay acted in
Thulladha Manamum Thullum with
Simran, which earned Vijay a
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film.
[17] This was followed by
Endrendrum Kadhal,
Nenjinile and the
K.S.Ravikumar directed
Minsara Kanna.
2003–2007
In late 2003, Vijay transformed from a romantic hero to an action hero with 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.
[20] Udhaya, which began filming in 2002 but as 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.
[21]
It was followed by
Madhurey, directed by
Ramana Madhesh. In 2005, he starred in the
Perarasu directed action film
Thirupaachi, followed by a guest appearance in
Sukran, the romantic comedy
Sachien co-starring
Genelia D'Souza directed by John Mahendran, and
Sivakasi starring
Asin, again directed by Perarasu. Vijay's next film,
Aadhi, was produced by his father
S. A. Chandrasekhar and directed by
Ramana, released in 2006. In early 2007, Vijay starred in the gangster film
Pokkiri, a remake of the Telugu
film of the same name. Directed by
Prabhu Deva, it became the third highest grossing Tamil film of 2007. Vijay's character in the film, a reprisal of
Mahesh Babu's role in the original, was well received by critics.
[22][23]
2007–2010
2011–present
Vijay's next film, the action thriller
Thuppakki, directed by
A. R. Murugadoss and produced by
S. Dhanu, was released at Diwali 2012 to mostly positive reviews.
[32] The film became the third Tamil film to enter the
₹1 billion (US$16 million) club after
Sivaji (2007),
Enthiran (2010).
[33] His next film,
Thalaivaa, directed by
A. L. Vijay, was released on 9 August 2013 worldwide to positive reviews from critics and audience.
[34] His next film,
Jilla, co-starring
Kajal Aggarwal and
Mohanlal, and directed by
R. T. Neason, was released on a
Pongal weekend in 2014 to positive reviews from critics and audience and end up as box office hit due to popularity of both stars
[35][36][37]
In the media
In 2012 and 2013, Vijay held 28th and 49th place, respectively, on the Indian edition of Forbes' "Celebrity 100" lists, based on the income and popularity of Indian celebrities.
[43][44] He was the highest ranked among actors from Tamil cinema.
Brand endorsement
In 2002, Vijay appeared as
Coca-Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu.
[45][46] He acted in a variety of South Indian Coca Cola advertisements, along with
Katrina Kaif. He has been the ambassador for
Sunfeast since 2005.
[47] In 2008, Vijay was signed up as an ambassador for the
Indian Premier League cricket team
Chennai Super Kings, along with actress
Nayanthara.
[48] In January 2009, Vijay was approached as the brand ambassador for Coca Cola products.
[49] As of August 2010, Vijay was signed by
Jos Alukkas as their brand ambassador for Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
[50] The Jos Alukkas advertisement featuring Vijay and his mother Shoba is an extremely famous one in Tamil Nadu. Vijay signed for
Tata Docomo[51]
Philanthropy
Vijay started a social welfare organisation Vijay Makkal Iyakkam which was officially launched at
Pudukottai on 26 July 2009. It is responsible for much of his philanthropic work. After
Cyclone Thane his Makkal Mandram administrators arranged for a relief camp at Kammiyampettai, Cuddalore where the star provided rice to the affected people. Cuddalore was the worst affected area in floods and Vijay reached out to help these people out by rendering some assistance. The area in which the camp happened soon wore a festive look with thousands of people gathering to catch a glimpse of their favorite star.
[52] Vijay has appeared along with
Suriya,
R. Madhavan and
Jyothika in a short commercial video about child poverty, labour and lack of education, titled
Herova? Zerova? produced by Surya in an effort to eliminate children who drop out of school at an early age, made in association with Vishnuvardhan Induri the founder of
CCL and the Ministry of Education of
Tamil Nadu[53]. The Ilayathalapathy Vijay Educational Awards 2012 was conducted at JS Kalyana Mandapam in Chennai on 8 July 2012 by his Vijay Makkal Iyakkam to honour the students topped in 2012 SSLC and 12th board exams and the awards were distributed by Vijay himself. On his birthday,
[when?] Vijay presented golden rings to the new born babies at the Egmore Government General Hospital.
[54]
Filmography
Vijay's most critically and commercially successful films include:
[55][56][57]
Awards
Vijay filmography
Vijay began the new millennium with critically and commercially successful films such as
Kushi and
Priyamanavale.
[9][10] The following year, he appeared in three films:
Friends,
Badri and
Shahjahan. While
Friends was commercially successful, the other two underperformed.
[2][11] His subsequent films that were released for the next year-and-a-half did not do well at the box office.
[12][13] The success of his
masala film Thirumalai (2003),
[14] where he was paired opposite
Jyothika, changed his on-screen persona to that of an
action hero.
[15] 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. It was also the first Tamil film to earn
₹500 million (
Indian rupees).
[4][16] His performance as a caring brother in the masala film
Thirupachi (2005) earned him a
special prize at the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
[17][18] He continued to achieve commercial success with
Sivakasi (2005) and
Pokkiri (2007).
[19][20] The latter garnered him a
Filmfare Award nomination for
Best Actor.
[21] Barring
Vettaikaaran (2009),
[22] all of his subsequent releases from
Azhagiya Thamizh Magan (2007), where he played dual roles for the first time in his career,
[23] to his 50th film,
Sura (2010), were commercial failures.
[24]
Films
Key
 | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
- All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.
See also
List of awards and nominations received by Vijay
Vijay's awards and nominations
|
|
| Totals |
| Awards won | 26 |
| Nominations | 54 |
Awards and honours
Honours
Other awards
Won
Introduction
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