Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar (born 22 June 1974), known as
Vijay is an Indian
actor,
playback singer and
producer, who works in the
Tamil film industry. Son of film director and producer
S. A. Chandrasekhar, he started his career as a child actor and later made his debut as a lead actor in the 1992 film
Naalaya Theerpu helmed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. He was listed #28 in
Forbes India top 100 Celebrities for the year 2012.
[3]
He has been awarded two
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, nominated for one
Filmfare Award and conferred honorary doctorate by
MGR University for his extensive philanthropic works in 2007. He launched the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, a social welfare organisation in 2009.
Early life
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar was born on 22 June 1974, to film producer
and director S. A. Chandrasekhar and Shoba Chandrasekhar, a playback
singer. He had a sister named Vidhya Chandrasekhar who died at the age
of two. Vijay went on to do Visual Communications at Loyola College,
Chennai. He was interestingly classmates with present-day film artistes
Surya Sivakumar,
Yuvan Shankar Raja,
Karthik Raja, and
Vishnuvardhan.
[4]
He entered film industry in 1992 at the age of 18 against the wishes of
his parents who initially wanted him to become doctor. Now he is a star
in tamil film industry.
[5]
Career
Initial Years(1992–96)
During his childhood, Vijay performed in minor roles in films
directed by his father. Vijay debuted as a lead role actor in the 1992
film
Naalaya Theerpu, produced by his father.
[4] After a few other films, he co-starred with
Vijayakanth in the film
Sendhoorapandi. After films like
Rasigan and
Deva, In his fifth film
Rajavin Parvaiyile in 1993, he co-starred with another leading actor
Ajith Kumar, who played supporting role in that film. He further went on to act in the romantic comedy
Vishnu and romantic tragedy
Chandralekha later. In early 1996, he starred in
Coimbatore Mappillai a
romantic comedy film.
1996–03
His next flim was the
Vikraman-directed
Poove Unakkaga which was his first commercial success and made Vijay a recognizable star. Vijay's tenth film
Vasantha Vasal was followed by the action flicks
Maanbumigu Maanavan and
Selva and the romantic film
Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen. In 1997 Vijay acted in the commercially successful movies
Love Today,
Once More, where he co-starred with the legendary Tamil film actor
Sivaji Ganesan and leading actress
Simran, the
Mani Ratnam-produced
Nerukku Ner, directed by
Vasanth, where he co-starred with another leading actor
Suriya who made his debut in that film and the romantic drama
Kadhalukku Mariyadhai,co-starring
Shalini Kumar which was directed by
Fazil and earned him a
Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. In 1998, Vijay worked in romantic films
Ninaithen Vandhai,
Priyamudan which was his first negative role, and
Nilaave Vaa. In 1999 Vijay acted in the successful
Thulladha Manamum Thullum again with
Simran. This was followed by
Endrendrum Kadhal,
Nenjinile and the
K.S.Ravikumar directed
Minsara Kanna.
From the start of the new millennium Vijay began to commit to
entertaining and commercial ventures, which marked a change in his
trend. In 2000 he did
Kannukkul Nilavu with Fazil. His next venture
Kushi, a romantic comedy co-starring
Jyothika was directed by
S. J. Suryah and became a box office hit. At the end of the year, he acted in a romantic drama,
Priyamanavale, which was also a box office hit. His 2001
romantic comedy film
Friends was directed by
Siddique and featured him in the leading role alongside
Suriya again, this film topped the years box office and became a blockbuster. Followed by
Badri an
action–drama film which was the remake of the Telugu film
Thammudu a super hit and
Shahjahan, a romantic drama film which was moderately successful at the box office. In 2002, he starred in
Thamizhan alongside
Priyanka Chopra who made her acting debut in that film before her establishment as the leading
Bollywood actress. The film was a box office hit, giving Vijay his only hit film of the that time.
[6][7] Later, he featured in the romantic drama
Youth and action drama
Bagavathi there by rounded off the year with 1 hit and 2 average successes. Vijay began 2003 with the films
Vaseegara and
Pudhiya Geethai, both failures at the box office.
2003–07
In late 2003, Vijay transformed from a romantic hero to an action hero, with the action-romance flick,
Thirumalai opposite to
Jyothika directed by debutant Ramana and produced by
K.Balachander's Kavithalaya Productions, which featured him in a new look and was a box office hit.
Thirumalai was a turning point in Vijay's career.
[8]
His new commercial mass acting style and punch dialogue delivery
coupled with his comic timing endeared him to all types of audiences and
he soon achieved leading status in
Kollywood.
Udhaya, a film which began filming in 2002 but became delayed, finally released at the start of 2004.
Ghilli,a remake of the Telugu film
Okkadu released next in 2004, and became Vijay's biggest blockbuster at the time completing 200 days in theatres in
Tamil Nadu. Directed by
S. Dharani and produced by
A. M. Rathnam, it co-starred
Trisha and
Prakash Raj, and was the biggest hit for Vijay at that period.Ghilli is the highest grossing film in Tamil at that time of release.
[9]
It was followed by
Madhurey, another hit which was directed by R.Madesh. In 2005, he starred in the
Perarasu-directed action film
Thirupaachi which became a blockbuster hit, followed by a guest appearance in
Sukran,the romantic comedy
Sachien co-starring
Genelia which became a decent hit, and the successful commercial film
Sivakasi co-starring
Asin, which was directed again by Perarasu. His next film
Aadhi
was produced by his father S.A.Chandrashekar and directed by Ramana
again released in 2006, and was not well received and flopped at box
office despite its huge expectations.In early 2007, Vijay starred in the
gangster film
Pokkiri, the remake of the another Telugu
film of the same name. Directed by
Prabhu Deva,
it became a box office blockbuster and the second highest grossing
Tamil film of 2007. Vijay's character in the film, a reprisal of
Mahesh Babu's role in the original, was well praised by critics.
2007–10
In late 2007, Vijay starred in the
extrasensory perception thriller film Azhagiya Thamizh Magan,
and for the first time in his career, he appeared in dual roles as both
the antagonist and protagonist. The film was an average success,
despite the initial hype and expectations. In 2008, he starred in the
action film
Kuruvi,
again under Dharani's direction, which was a failure at box office
produced by Red Gaint Movies. The year 2009 started off with the action
masala film
Villu, in which Vijay teamed up with Prabhu Deva after the successful
Pokkiri. The film earned mixed reviews and became unsuccessful. But, the actor's next film
Vettaikaaran which was directed by Babu Sivan, produced by
AVM Productions and distributed by
Sun Pictures was an above average success. In 2010, he acted in his 50
th film,
Sura, also distributed by Sun Pictures.
Sura released amidst huge fanfare and expectations, but was a box office disaster. Vijay was forced to give a compensation of
6
crore (US$1.0 million) to the theatre owners who had suffered losses due to the screening of his recent films.
[10]
Most of his films during this period did not do well at the box office
and Vijay's status as a leading star was questioned by critics. In late
2010 Vijay even fell out with the ruling
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which was virtually controlling the film industry at the time, following which he aligned with the
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and featured in its success in the
2011 assembly election.
Resurgence(2011–present)
In the start of 2011 he associated with director
Siddique again, for the romantic drama
Kaavalan, the Tamil remake of the
Malayalam film
Bodyguard also co-starring
Asin.
It received a positive response from both viewers and critics and was
deemed to be a box office hit, in spite of the ruling DMK stalling its
release in many theatres which forced Vijay to shell out his salary and
spend an extra
4
crore (US$690,000) for the release of the film.
[11][12] During Diwali the same year, his next film, the action film
Velayudham directed by
M. Raja and produced by
Venu Ravichandran released and was a box office blockbuster and completed 100 days run.
[13] Velayudham became one of the top grossing films of 2011.
His next release was
Nanban, the Tamil remake of the
Bollywood blockbuster
3 Idiots, where he essayed the role played by
Aamir Khan in the original. Directed by acclaimed director
S. Shankar, it released during the
Pongal
weekend of 2012 and emerged a major financial success. Vijay's
performance in the film was praised by critics, including leading Indian
actor
Kamal Haasan.
[14] Nanban went on to complete its 100
th day theatrical run.
[15][16] Nanban was the biggest hit for Vijay at the time of release.
[17] He made a special appearance in the 2012 Bollywood film
Rowdy Rathore starring
Akshay Kumar, directed by
Prabhu Deva.
[18]
His next film, the action thriller
Thuppakki, directed by
A. R. Murugadoss and produced by
S. Dhanu, released on Diwali 2012 to mostly positive reviews and was a commercial success across the globe.
[19] Thuppaki was declared as a blockbuster.
[20] The film also became the fourth film to enter the
100
crore (US$17 million) club in Tamil cinema and is the biggest hit in Vijay's career.
[21] Eros International announced that
Thuppakki made a domestic nett collection of
185
crore (US$32 million).
[22]
His next flim
Thalaivaa co-starring
Amala Paul and directed by
A. L. Vijay is complete. He will soon be joining the sets of
Jilla co-starring
Kajal Aggarwal alongside
Mohanlal, directed by debutante Nesan who was an assistant director in
Velayudham.
[23]
Also He will soon be joining with
Chandramukhi director
P.Vasu for the Film
Curry In Love an English language film from India co-starring
Sonam Kapoor,
Anil Kapoor,
Shekhar Kapur.Music will be Composed by
Ilaiyaraaja and
Yuvan shankar raja.The Production house yet to be confirm the actors dates.
[24]
Personal life
Family
Vijay married Sangeetha Sornalingam of
Sri Lankan Tamil descent on 25 August 1999.
[25] They have two children, a son Jason Sanjay born in 2000 in London,
[26] and a daughter Divya Saasha born in 2005 in Chennai.
Brand endorsement
In the year 2002, Vijay appeared as
Coca Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu. He acted in a variety of South Indian Coca Cola advertisements, along with
Katrina Kaif. In 2008, Vijay was signed up as the star ambassador for the
Indian Premier League cricket team
Chennai Super Kings, along with actress
Nayanthara.
[27] In January 2009, Vijay was approached as the brand ambassador for Coca Cola products.
[28] As of August 2010, Vijay was signed by
Jos Alukkas as their brand ambassador for Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
[29] Vijay also signed for
Tata Docomo, who will be seen for the first time for an Ad with Tata Docomo who are known for their innovative promotions all over.
[30]
Political and social activism
In 2009, Vijay was speculated joining the
Indian National Congress after he met with
Rahul Gandhi.
[31] In 2010, he fell out with then ruling
DMK party owing to the delay of the release of his film
Kaavalan
in order to release the dhanush starrer aadukalam distributed by sun
pictures, then Vijay supported AIADMK in next assembly elections and
also passed the message to his fans.
In early 2011, Vijay openly expressed his desire to enter politics
and his father S.A. Chandrasekhar confirmed it, saying that Vijay will
officially enter politics at the age of 40.
[32] Following which he declared his support for the
AIADMK led alliance in the
2011 state assembly election, and the AIADMK welcomed him by providing 3 seats to his fan club,
Vijay Makkal Iyakkam[33] He campaigned extensively for the AIADMK during the election campaign. He made a speech in
Nagapattinam, condemning the attack on the fishermen by the
Sri Lankan Government, thus marking his political visionnage.
[34]
On 25 August 2011, Vijay went to the
Ramlila Maidan to meet
Anna Hazare and expressed support to the
anti-corruption movement for the
Lokpal.
He lauded that the movement is getting public support without any
political background and said that "the Gandhian's stir has triggered a
nationwide debate on uprooting corruption".
[35]
The 2013 film
Thalaivaa was speculated to be a political film, Vijay denied during an interview.
[36]
In response to a question several months later about the possibility of
his entry into politics, he said he has no time to think of politics
now.
[37]
Philanthropy
Vijay converted his fan clubs into a people's movement called Vijay Makkal Iyakkam which was officially launched at
Pudukottai on 26 July 2009.
[38] His Makkal Iyakkam is responsible for most of the philanthropic activities conducted by the star. After
Cyclone Thane
his Makkal Mandram administrators arranged for a function at
Kammiyampettai, Cuddalore where the star distributed five kilos of 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 function happened soon wore a festive
look with thousands of people gathering to catch a glimpse of their
favorite star.
[39] 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[40].
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 every birthday, Vijay
presents golden rings to the new born babies at the Egmore Government
General Hospital.
[41]
Awards and honours
Honours
Win
Nominated
Nominated
National Award'
Nominated
Win
Nominated
nominated
Other Awards
Win
Filmography
Discography
Vijay is also a playback singer and has sung for composers like
Ilaiyaraaja,
Deva,
Vidyasagar,
Yuvan Shankar Raja and
Devi Sri Prasad.
[42] He sang most of his songs in films he acted and a few for fellow actors. His first song was "Bombay City" from
Rasigan.
[43] Later on he sang "Naa Dhum Adhikkura" for actor
Suriya for the film
Periyanna. He then sang "Vaadi Vaadi" in the film
Sachein. After 7 years he sang "Google Google" for
Harris Jayaraj for his film
Thuppakki. He recently sung his 26th song in
Thalaivaa with
G. V. Prakash Kumar composing the music.
[44]
