Actor Vijay Profile
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar better known by his stage name “Vijay” is
a Tamil film actor born on
June 22,1974, who has been a performer in Tamil cinema, as well as a playback
singer and a spokesperson for companies in India.
Vijay began his career appearing in several of his father’s
directorial ventures in the early 1990s. He made his film debut in Naalaya Theerpu (1992). Since
then, he acted in several films of action and romance genres.
During his years in the Chennai film industry, he has been nominated for one Filmfare
Award, while winning three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.
Vijay has starred in several romance and action
films, along with the commercially successful films Poove Unakkaga (1996), Kadhalukku
Mariyadhai (1997), Kushi(2000), Ghilli (2004)
and Pokkiri (2007). He is the
current ambassador for the IPL cricket
team “Chennai Super Kings” and has also served several commercial
companies as a brand ambassador.
Early life
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar was born on June 22, 1974, to
film producer and director S. A. Chandrasekhar and Shoba
Chandrasekhar, a classical and a playback singer. He had a sister named Vidhya
Chandrasekhar who died at the age of two. Vijay went on to do
his schooling in Balalok in Virugambakkam, Chennai and Visual Communications at Loyola
College, Chennai
Career
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. Films
like Rasigan, Vishnu, and Deva followed. Vijay co-starred
with Sivaji Ganesan in the film Once More, directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar in 1997. In
1995, Vijay was in the lead role in the film Rajavin Parvaiyile which also starred "Ajith Kumar", another
currently reigning film actor in Tamil cinema. In 1996 Vijay starred in the
Vikraman-directed film Poove
Unakkaga. He also starred in Love
Today, Priyamudan,
as well as Kadhalukku Mariyadhai for
which he receive that year’s Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.
Following Thulladha Manamum
Thullum, the films Endrendrum
Kadhal, Nenjinile, Minsara Kanna and Kannukkul Nilavu failed to meet
his previous success.
He decided not to commit in films that took a year to
release. His
next venture was Kushi in
2000 which was followed by films like Priyamanavale, Friends and Badri. Later on, he starred in Shahjahan, Thamizhan, Youth,
and Bagavathi which
were followed by Vaseegara, Pudhiya Geethai, and his delayed film Udhaya.
The films Thirumalai and Ghilli were released in 2004. Ghilli, directed by Dharaniand
produced by A. M. Rathnam, it was a remake of the Telugu film Okkadu, and ran for 300 days in
theatres in Tamil Nadu. The
following year had other releases such as Thirupaachi, Sachein and Sivakasi. Vijay’s Aathi was released in 2006. In
2007 Pokkiri an other
remake movie from Telugu, directed by Prabhu Deva, was released in 2007
and Vijay received an honourary doctorate title from the M. G. R. University. Later that year, Vijay
appeared in Azhagiya Thamizh
Magan, and for the first time, he appeared in dual roles. His roles in
this film, as the antagonist and protagonist, made him to be considered for a Filmfare
Best Tamil Actor Award. In 2006, he starred in Kuruvi, again under Dharani’s direction.
The year 2009 started off with the spy and action film Villu, which was directed by Prabhu
Deva. The film, which had Vijay in dual roles for the second time in his
career, released in January 2009. Vijay will be acting in his next film titled Vettaikkaaran, directed by Babu
Sivan, an associate director of Dharani, and produced by AVM Productions,
which was launched in February 2009.
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 January 2009,
Vijay was once again chosen as the brand ambassador for Coca Cola products.
In 2008, Vijay was signed up as the star ambassador for the Indian
Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings, along with actress Nayantara.
Awards and honors
In Vijay
Awards 2007, Vijay won the “Entertainer of the Year Award” for his
performance in the films Pokkiri and Azhagiya Thamizh Magan.
Personal life
Vijay married Sangeetha Sornalingam, of Sri Lankan Tamil
descent, on August 25, 1999. They have two children, a son born
in 2001 in London, and a daughter born in 2005 in Chennai.