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Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar (Template:Lang-ta; born June 22, 1974), known mononymously as Vijay, is an Indian film actor, and playback singer. He is the son of film producer and director S. A. Chandrasekhar. After performing uncredited roles as a child actor in films produced by his father, he made his film debut as a lead role actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu. Since then, he acted in several films of action and romance genres. He has also worked as a playback singer in most of his films, as well as a few films starring other actors. During his career in the Tamil film industry, he has won two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and was nominated for one Filmfare Award.

Vijay has starred in several romance and action films, including the commercially successful films Poove Unakkaga (1996), Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (1997), Thulladha Manamum Thullum (1999), Kushi (2000), Priyamaanavale (2000), Ghilli (2004), Pokkiri (2007), Vettaikaaran (2009) and Kaavalan (2011). He also worked with several corporations as a brand ambassador and is a former brand ambassador of the Indian Premier League cricket team, Chennai Super Kings.

Early life

Vijay was born to film producer and director S. A. Chandrasekhar and Shobha Chandrasekhar, a Carnatic singer. He attended S.B.O.A Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Anna Nagar. He began post-secondary studies at Loyola College in Chennai and entered in the acting field.

Career

Early years: 1992-2002

During his childhood, Vijay performed in uncredited roles as a child actor in films produced by his father, S. A. Chandrasekhar. At the age of 18, Vijay debuted as a lead actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu, also produced by his father. In his second film, he co-starred with Vijayakanth in the film Sendhoorapandi. His following films Rasigan and Deva were all low-budget movies. In his fifth film Rajavin Parvaiyile in 1993, he co-starred with actor Ajith Kumar, who, like Vijay, was also a rising young actor then—also a bankable film star today. Also released that year were his romantic comedies Vishnu and Chandralekha which turned out to be poor grossers.

The following year, Vijay continued to pursue romantic comedy film Coimbatore Mappillai which was a failure. The Vikraman-directed Poove Unakkaga was his first box office success which helped Vijay to become a recognisable actor. Vijay's tenth film Vasantha Vasal was an average grosser at box offices. Maanbumigu Maanavan and Selva were action films and flopped heavily. After more average romance films in 1997, like Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen and Love Today with the former a failure and the latter a success, Vijay took up the romantic comedy film, Once More, in which he co-starred with legendary Tamil film actor Sivaji Ganesan. In his next film, the Mani Ratnam-produced Nerukku Ner, directed by Vasanth, he co-starred with Surya Sivakumar who happened to make his debut in that film. He wrapped up that year with his first commercial success, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, which was directed by Fazil and earned him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.

In 1998, Vijay worked in Ninaithen Vandhai, Priyamudan, and Nilaave Vaa which were well received at box offices with Nilaave Vaa a failure. In 1999, his film Thulladha Manamum Thullum earned him a Special Prize at the following year's Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. The following films Endrendrum Kadhal, Nenjinile, Minsara Kanna failed miscerably at box-office.

At the start of the new millennium he did Kannukkul Nilavu with Fazil again but the movie failed at box office, although his performance was praised. He decided not to commit in films that took a year to release, which changed his trend. His next venture Kushi however, directed by S. J. Suryah, was a blockbuster of the year. At the end of the year, he acted in Priyamanavale which was once again a successful film. His 2001 comedy film Friends, directed by Siddique, also starring Surya Sivakumar, was yet again a commercial success. Badri, an action and drama flick, showed good results at the box office, but his following romance film, Shahjahan, did not do well.

In 2002, he starred in Thamizhan alongside the then debutante Priyanka Chopra which again failed at the box office. Youth on the other hand, was an average box office grosser and Bagavathi, at the end of the year, was another below-average failure. The following year 2003 also began unsuccessful with Vaseegara and Pudhiya Geethai.

Commercial success: 2003-2007

However, his string of failure films was broken by the action-romance flick, Thirumalai, which had Vijay in a new facial appearance. Udhaya, a film which began filming in 2002 but became delayed, finally released at the start of 2004, but was a box office failure.

Ghilli, which was released in 2004, is considered to be one of Vijay's biggest hits today. Directed by S. Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam, it was a remake of the Telugu film Okkadu, and ran for 200 days in theatres in Tamil Nadu. It was followed by Madhurey which was an average grosser at box office but considered a hit. It was in this year which Vijay began to portray his current mass-hero, stereotypical acting style, giving him a major turning point in his career. The following year, 2005, had other major films such as the Perarasu-directed Thirupaachi a super hit, the romantic flick Sachien a hit, and another masala film, Sivakasi a success, again by Perarasu.

His next film Aathi, was released in 2006. This film failed miserably at the box-office and Vijay took a short hiatus from acting. He later accepted to work in Pokkiri that year. Directed by Prabhu Deva, it released in 2007 and met almost the same success Ghilli did, in which Vijay played the character of an undercover cop diguised as a local gangster. Vijay's performance was well praised and he received an honorary doctorate title from the M. G. R. University.

Setbacks: 2007-2010

Late 2007, Vijay starred in the romantic drama film Azhagiya Thamizh Magan, and for the first time, he appeared in dual roles, as both the antagonist and protagonist, but was a huge failure. In 2008, he starred in the action film Kuruvi, again under Dharani's direction, ran for 228 days in the theaters but was declared a failure despite an average box office result.

The year 2009 started off with the action masala film Villu, which was directed by Prabhu Deva who was keen on working with him again after Pokkiri. The film, which had Vijay in dual roles for the second time in his career, but again generated poor reviews. Vijay's next film, Vettaikaaran, directed by Babu Sivan, produced by AVM Productions and distributed by Sun Pictures.

In 2010, Vijay's 50th film Sura, another Sun Pictures distribution, released with mixed reviews and was expected to become a hit due to the success of his previous film and Mani Sharma's music as in his previous super hit, Pokkiri, but became one of his worst failures. After box office losses due to Sura and other recent Vijay films, theater owners in Tamil Nadu asked for an exclusive Vijay film or stated they will not screen Vijay films.

2011 onwards

He associated with director Siddique again for Kaavalan, the Tamil remake of the Malayalam film Bodyguard. It received positive reviews from both viewers and critics and was declared a successful venture at the box office. As of late-2010, he was working with M. Raja for Velayudham, which is being produced by Venu Ravichandran. He is currently working with S. Shankar for the film Nanban which features an ensemble cast.

Vijay is expected to work with director Seeman in his forthcoming film Pagalavan as well as with Mani Ratnam in his next venture, currently being discussed.

Personal life

Family

Vijay married Sangeetha Sornalingam of Sri Lankan Tamil descent on August 25, 1999. They have two children, a son Jason Sanjay born in 2000 in London, and a daughter Divya Saasha born in 2005 in Chennai.

Brand endorsement

In the year 2002, Vijay was chosen as Coca Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu. He had 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. In January 2009, Vijay was once again chosen as the brand ambassador for Coca Cola products. As of August 2010, Vijay was signed by Jos Alukkas as their brand ambassador for Tamil Nadu.

Awards and honours

Vijay received his first civilian honour, the Kalaimamani Award, and his first film-related award, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor for Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, in 1999. He later received M. G. R. Award the following year. His next film award was in 2005, where he won a Tamil Nadu State Film Special Prize for Best Actor for Thirupaachi. Vijay was bestowed with an honorary doctorate in 2007. He received a Vijay Award for Entertainer of the Year for Pokkiri in 2008 and a Vijay Award for Favourite Hero for Vettaikaaran in 2010. In 2011, Vijay was honoured with the Popular Tamil Actor Award at the 13th Asianet Film Awards, which is conferred by the Malayalam film industry. Vijay was nominated for a Filmfare Best Tamil Actor Award for Pokkiri in 2008 and a Vijay Award for Favourite Hero for Kuruvi in 2009.

Filmography

References

1. "Actor Vijay, Dhoni form mutual admiration society - Movies News News - IBNLive". Ibnlive.in.com. 2010-02-03. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
4. http://sify.com/movies/tamil/fullstory.php?id=14953241
5. http://www.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article1111607.ece
6. Kaavalan is a Hit
7. http://www.sify.com/movies/how-vijay-came-back-to-3-idiots-news-tamil-lb5kpcfijbg.html
8. http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/feb-11-03/vijay-mani-ratnam-15-02-11.html
9. http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/tamil/article/64389.html
10. "Rediff On The Net, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry". Rediff.com. 1998-08-17. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
11. "Rediff On The NeT, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry". Rediff.com. 1999-01-25. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
12. "rediff.com, Movies: Vijay meets his son on the Net!". Rediff.com. 2000-08-26. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
13. "Coke signs up Vijay as brand ambassador - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
14. "South Indian actor Vijay brand ambassador of Jos Alukkas - Chennaionline News". News.chennaionline.com. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
15. "Ad. Bug bites Vijay again - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2010-08-13.
16. http://www.hindu.com/mp/2008/05/06/stories/2008050650210400.htm
17. K. Lakshmi (2010-05-30). "The Hindu : Cities / Chennai : 'Pasanga' steals show at Vijay awards". Beta.thehindu.com. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
18. "Awards for Vijay and Nayantara - Tamil Movie News". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved 2011-01-18.

External links

• Vijay at IMDb

Template:Persondata

• Indian film actors
• People from Tamil Nadu
• Tamil actors
• 1974 births
• Living people
• Alumni of Loyola College, Chennai
• Indian Roman Catholics