Vijay

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 (1969).

Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar (born 22 June 1974), known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian actor and playback singer who works predominantly in Tamil cinema.

In a career spanning in just over 3 decades, Vijay has acted in over 65 films and is one of the most commercially successful actors in Tamil cinema with multiple films amongst the highest-grossing Tamil films of all time and is amongst the highest paid actors in India.

Vijay was born as Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar on 22 June 1974 in Madras (now Chennai), 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 of Christian descent 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.

Born in Madras, Vijay made his debut as a child actor in the Tamil film Vetri in 1984.

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 (1984), Vasantha Raagam (1986), Sattam Oru Vilayaattu (1987) and Ithu Engal Neethi (1988).

He also acted in a supporting role with Rajinikanth in Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985), directed by his father.

After a view roles as a child actor, he played the lead in the film Naalaiya Theerpu in 1992.

Vijay continued doing lead roles for the next few years with mixed results, notable films amongst them included Poove Unakkaga, Love Today, Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, Thulladha Manamum Thullum and Kushi.

Vijay played the lead role for the first time in Naalaiya Theerpu in 1992.

Vijay then appeared in the films Senthoorapandi, Rasigan, Deva and Coimbatore Mappillai, some 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 Thulladha Manamum Thullum.

In 1998, he was awarded Kalaimaamani by the Government of Tamil Nadu.

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.

In 2003, he starred in Ghilli, which became the first Tamil film to gross over ₹500 million and with subsequent success of Thirupaachi and Pokkiri later, he established himself as one of the leading and commercially successful actors in Tamil cinema.

Vijay began 2003 with Vaseegara and Pudhiya Geethai.

In 2003, following the action-romance film Thirumalai, Vijay starred in Ghilli, directed by S. Dharani with Trisha and Prakash Raj.

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 played a dual roles of 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.

Following a period of moderate success, Vijay acted in various critically and commercially successful films starting in the late 2010s including Thuppakki, Kaththi and Sarkar.

He has won several awards as an actor.

Referred to as "Thalapathy", Vijay has a significant fan following.

In February 2024, Vijay announced his retirement from films and his entry into politics with the launch of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam.

He was featured in Eastern Eye top celebrities in Asia, and he is the only Tamil actor to feature among Bollywood actors in the list in 2023.