Indian actor, playback singer and producer Vijay

Vijay (born 22 June 1974) 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 in the movie Vetri and later made his debut as a lead actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu. He launched the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, a social welfare organisation in 2009.

1992–1996

During his childhood, Vijay performed in more number of minor roles with Vijayakanth directed by his father. Vijay debuted as a lead role actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu, produced by his father. 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.Rajavin Parvaiyile is a fifth film for both the superstars. He further went on to act in the romantic comedy Vishnu and romantic tragedy Chandralekha later. In early 1995, he starred in Coimbatore Mappillai a romantic comedy film.

1996–2003

His next film 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 successful film Kadhalukku Mariyadhai,co-starring Shalini Kumar which was directed by Fazil and earned him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor,The film topped the years box office and became an All Time blockbuster In 1998, Vijay worked in successful 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 which became a boxoffice hit. 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 film which was 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 also a box office hit. Later, he featured in the super hit romantic film Youth and action film Bagavathi which was a super hit there by rounded off the year with 3 super hits. Vijay began 2003 with the films Vaseegara and Pudhiya Geethai, both are moderate success at the box office.

2003–2007

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 blockbuster.Thirumalai was a turning point in Vijay's career. 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 was the highest grossing film in Tamil Nadu at that time of release.

It was followed by Madhurey (2004), a blockbuster movie,directed by Ramana Madhesh. In 2005, he starred in the Perarasu-directed action film Thirupaachi which became a blockbuster, followed by a guest appearance in Sukran,the romantic comedy Sachien co-starring Genelia a super hit veture directed by John Mahendran, 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. Chandrasekhar and directed by Ramana again released in 2006, and was average success 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 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 praised by critics.

2007–2010

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 moderate success at the boxofice, despite the initial hype and expectations. In 2008, he starred in the action film Kuruvi, again under Dharani's direction, which was average at box office produced by Red Giant 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 movie released to above average reviews.But,the actor's next film Vettaikaaran which was directed by Babu Sivan, produced by AVM Productions and distributed by Sun Pictures became a box office blockbuster and one of the highest grossing Tamil film of 2009. In 2010, he acted in his 50th film, Sura, also distributed by Sun Pictures.Sura released amidst huge fanfare and expectations, but was a box office failure. Vijay was forced to give a compensation of 60 million (US$1.0 million) to the theatre owners who had suffered losses due to the screening of his recent films. 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.

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 super hit and completed its 100 days run. The movie was screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival in China. 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. 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 by leading Indian actor Kamal Haasan. Nanban went on to complete 100 days of theatrical run, making it the biggest blockbuster in Vijay's career. He made a special appearance in the 2012 Bollywood film Rowdy Rathore starring Akshay Kumar, directed by Prabhu Deva.

His 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 huge commercial success across the globe. Thuppakki was declared as a blockbuster. The film became third in Tamil cinema to enter the 1 billion (US$17 million) club after Sivaji (2007), and Enthiran (2010), making it the next biggest blockbuster in Vijay's career. Eros International announced that Thuppakki made a domestic nett collection of 1.8 billion (US$30 million). His Next Film Thalaivaa directed by A. L. Vijay released on 9 August 2013 worldwide to positive reviews from critics and audience. His latest film Jilla co-starring Kajal Aggarwal alongside Mohanlal,directed by debutante R. T. Neason, who was an assistant director at Velayudham. and produced by Super Good Films released on a Pongal weekend in 2014 and became a major commercial success running over 100 days and was Vijay’s second biggest theatrical earner after Thuppakki.

He is currently working with Murugadoss for a second time in the action thriller movie Kaththi,co-starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The film is expected to release for Diwali 2014. After that he will begin to work on an untitled big budget fantasy film directed by Chimbudevan in which Shruti Haasan is paired opposite Vijay. Popular actress Sridevi would also star in a supporting role. while Naan Ee fame Sudeep as the antagonist and Devi Sri Prasad will be scoring the music for the film.