Vijay (actor)
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian actor and politician who works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, he acted in 69 films and is amongst the highest paid actors in India. He is one of the most commercially successful actors in the industry with multiple films amongst the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time. He has won several awards as an actor. Referred to as "Thalapathy", he has a significant fan following.
Born in Madras in 1974 to film director S. A. Chandrasekhar, Vijay made his debut as a child actor in the Tamil film Vetri. After playing as a child actor in few of the films directed by his father, he played his first lead role in the film Naalaiya Theerpu at the age of 18. He continued doing lead roles for the next few years and notable films amongst them included Poove Unakkaga, Love Today, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, Thullatha Manamum Thullum, and Kushi. In 1998, he was awarded Kalaimaamani by the Government of Tamil Nadu for his role in Kadhalukku Mariyadhai.
In 2004, he starred in the blockbuster action-masala film Ghilli and with subsequent success of Thirupaachi and Pokkiri, he established himself as one of the leading and commercially successful actors in Tamil cinema. Following a period of moderate success, Vijay acted in several critically and commercially successful films starting from the early 2010s including Thuppakki, Kaththi, Mersal, Sarkar, Master, Beast, Leo, and The Greatest of All Time.
In February 2024, Vijay announced his retirement from films and his entry into politics with the launch of his political outfit, known as Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.
Early life and family
Vijay was born as Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar on 22 June 1974 in Madras, Tamil Nadu. His father, S. A. Chandrasekhar, is a film director and his mother, Shoba Chandrasekhar, is a playback singer and vocalist. His father is a Christian and his mother is a Hindu. Vijay had a sister, Vidhya, who died when she was two years old. Vijay did his schooling initially at Fathima school, Kodambakkam and later at Balalok school, Virugambakkam. He pursued a bachelor degree in visual communication from Loyola College, but dropped out early to focus on his acting career.Film career
1984–2003: Debut and transition to lead roles
At the age of 10, Vijay made his debut as a child actor in the Tamil film Vetri, produced by P. S. Veerappa in 1984. He then acted as a child actor in films such as Kudumbam, Vasantha Raagam, Sattam Oru Vilayaattu and Ithu Engal Neethi. He also acted in a supporting role with Rajinikanth in Naan Sigappu Manithan, directed by his father.Vijay played the lead role for the first time in Naalaiya Theerpu at the age of 18 in 1992. He then appeared in the films Senthoorapandi, Rasigan, Deva and Coimbatore Mappillai, all of which were successful. In 1996, Vijay acted in Poove Unakkaga, directed by Vikraman, which according to him, gave him his initial break and popularity. In 1997, Vijay acted in Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen and Love Today.
Later, he starred in commercially successful films such as Nerrukku Ner, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, Ninaithen Vandhai, Priyamudan and Thullatha Manamum Thullum. In 1999, he then acted in the films Endrendrum Kadhal, Nenjinile, and Minsara Kanna. In 2000, he acted in critically successful, Kannukkul Nilavu, which was his 25th film, alongside commercially successful romantic films, Kushi and Priyamaanavale. In 2001, he acted in hat-trick box office successes; Friends, ''Badri and Shahjahan before starring in the action film Thamizhan alongside Priyanka Chopra in 2002. Later, he appeared in the romantic film Youth and the action film Bagavathi in the same year. Vijay began 2003 with Vaseegara and Pudhiya Geethai''.
2003–11: Established actor
In 2003, following the action-romance film Thirumalai, Vijay starred in Ghilli, directed by S. Dharani, alongside Trisha and Prakash Raj. The movie became a commercial success and became the first Tamil film to gross over 500 million at the domestic box office and also broke the record for the most people watching the movie within the first week of its release, previously held by M. G. Ramachandran's Adimai Penn. Following the same, he acted in Madhurey and Thirupaachi in 2005. Later, he starred in the commercially successful films Sachein, Sivakasi and Pokkiri. Pokkiri became one of the highest-grossing films of his career at the time.In late 2007, Vijay starred in the romantic thriller film Azhagiya Tamil Magan, where he portrayed a dual role for the first time in his career. He played the roles of both protagonist and antagonist. The film was commercially successful outside India. Except the commercially successful, Kuruvi in 2008 and Vettaikaaran in 2009, his subsequent releases Azhagiya Tamil Magan and Villu were average successes at domestic box office while continuing to be more successful overseas. Vijay continued to be one of the highest paid actors despite the moderate success of then recently released movies.
In 2010, he acted in the action comedy film Sura, which was his 50th film as an actor. In early 2011, Vijay acted in the romantic comedy Kaavalan, directed by Siddique which received positive response and a box office collection of 102 crore worldwide. The film was screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival in China. Kaavalan was a commercial success in China. His next film was the action film Velayudham, directed by M. Raja which released during Diwali and became one of the top-grossing films of 2011. The movie was also a critical success overseas.
2012–2022: Commercial success and stardom
In 2012, Vijay acted in the commercially successful Nanban, a remake of successful Hindi film 3 Idiots. Later in the year, he acted in the action thriller Thuppakki, directed by A. R. Murugadoss. The film became the third Tamil film to gross more than 100 crore domestically and became the most successful film of Vijay's career at the time, grossing over 121 crore. His next film Thalaivaa, directed by A. L. Vijay, was released in August 2013 to mixed reviews. In 2014, he acted in Jilla which ended up as a box office hit. Vijay then starred in the action thriller Kaththi, where he portrayed another dual role. The film received positive reviews and collected 130 crore at the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing Tamil films in 2014.In 2015, he starred in the fantasy film Puli, directed by Chimbu Deven, which received mixed to poor reviews from critics. Despite the reviews, the film was one of the highest-grossing films of 2015. In April 2016, the action-thriller Theri directed by Atlee released to mixed reviews. It became the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of 2016, grossing over 170 crore. In 2017, the masala film Bairavaa was released, again to mixed reviews. In 2017, the action thriller Mersal released, which became a commercial success, becoming the first of Vijay's films to gross over 250 crore. The film won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the National Film Awards UK in 2018 with Vijay earning a nomination for the best supporting actor. The film was amongst the few films of Vijay to be released in Japan and China with further screening at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea.
In 2018, Vijay acted in the political film Sarkar, which entered the 100 Crore Club within two days. The film was released in 80 countries and became his second ever film to gross over 250 crore. Vijay acted in a football action film Bigil, which released in 2019. While the film received mixed reviews from critics, Vijay was praised for the portrayal of his character and the film was a commercial success, earning more than 300 crore. It was also the first Tamil film to be released in Egypt and Jordan. In 2021, his next film Master, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj was released. Upon release, it received mixed to positive reviews from the critics. The film collected over 300 crore worldwide and was declared a box office success. His next film was the dark comedy action film Beast, which received mixed reviews from critics. The film performed well in overseas box office and was commercially successful, collecting more than 300 crore worldwide. It became one of the most viewed films on Netflix globally in 2022.