Vikram

Kennedy John Victor (born 17 April 1966), better known by his stage name Vikram, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema.

He is among the most decorated actors in Tamil cinema, with laurels including seven Filmfare Awards South, a National Film Award and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award.

Vikram was born as Kennedy John Victor on 17 April 1966 to a Christian father and a Hindu mother.

His father, John Victor (alias Vinod Raj) was a native of Paramakudi and ran away from home to start a career in films, but worked only in minor roles.

Vikram's mother, Rajeshwari, was a government officer who reached the rank of sub-collector.

Rajeshwari was born in a Hindu family with film connections.

Her brother, Thiagarajan, is an established director-actor in the Tamil film industry; he is the father of actor Prashanth, making him Vikram's first cousin (although the two have never openly acknowledged this relationship).

Vikram has two siblings, both younger to him.

His brother, Arvind, appeared in the low-budget Tamil film, Eppo Kalyanam (2022).

His sister, Anitha, is a teacher.

Vikram's father, Vinod Raj, was a small time actor who did not fare successfully in films and only managed to act in supporting roles in Tamil films and television serials.

This inspired Vikram to take theatre lessons and become professionally trained in classical and cinema dance forms to ensure that he became a leading actor.

Vikram decided to use a screen name because he disliked his original name, Kennedy, and he also felt that such a foreign name was not a fit name for an actor in Tamil films.

He took the name Vikram (a Hindu name) which means "man who does great deeds."

In one interview, he said that he was also inspired to take the name because it was a mixture of several names dear to him: "Vi" from his father's name (Vinod), "K" from Kennedy, "Ra" from his mother's name (Rajeshwari) and "ram" from his sun sign, Aries.

Vikram was educated at Montfort School, Yercaud (a boarding school in a hill station near Salem) and graduated in 1983.

He has mentioned that he used his opportunities at school well by taking part in karate, horseback riding and swimming and noted that such early exposure to activities gave him confidence as a youngster.

Vikram lurked in the fringes of the school's theatre club for a long period and often took part in backstage work before being handed the lead role in a school adaptation of Molière's The Doctor in Spite of Himself after the original lead had contracted chicken pox.

Despite expressing his interest to join films after school, his father forced him to go through education and Vikram subsequently graduated from Loyola College, Chennai with a degree in English Literature and worked halfway towards an MBA programme.

Through the prolific dramatics club, Vikram appeared in stage productions including college adaptations of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial and Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, receiving best actor awards for his performances.

After winning a Best Actor Award at a function held at IIT Madras, Vikram was hit by a truck during a ride on his motorbike on the way home and suffered a serious leg injury.

He remained hospital-ridden for three years during college and subsequently went through twenty-three surgeries to prevent his leg from being amputated.

Vikram then returned to finish the final year of his degree after his accident and secured permission to finish his dissertation at home, as he was only able to walk on crutches for a short period.

Vikram began his professional career by modelling in advert films for brands including Chola Tea, TVS Excel and Alwyn watches as well as appearing in a six episode television serial titled Galatta Kudumbam, which aired between November and December 1988.

During the final year of his M.B.A programme at Loyola College, he was recognised by the film industry, with veteran director C. V. Sridhar approaching him for a lead role in a film.

Vikram debuted with the romance En Kadhal Kanmani (1990) followed by his major breakthrough with his portrayal of a rogue-turned-lover in Bala's tragedy film Sethu (1999) and next appeared in hit films like Dhill (2001), Gemini (2002), Dhool (2003), Saamy (2003), Anniyan (2005), Raavanan (2010), Deiva Thirumagal (2011) and Iru Mugan (2017).

Vikram made his film debut in 1990 by appearing in En Kadhal Kanmani, a small-budget love story featuring him alongside Rekha Nambiar, with Sridhar's Thanthu Vitten Ennai, opposite Rohini being his next release.

He then signed on to be a part of cinematographer P. C. Sriram's college love story Meera, with high expectations, however, the three films failed to launch his career.

His appearances in Meera and in Kaaval Geetham, with another veteran director S. P. Muthuraman, helped him secure film offers from the Malayalam and Telugu film industries.

In 1993, he almost signed on to appear in Mani Ratnam's Bombay and featured in the initial photo shoot alongside Manisha Koirala.

However, Mani Ratnam wanted Vikram to remove his beard for the role, and Vikram could not do so due to continuity problems with another film he had signed and hence was dropped from the project.

Between 1993 and 1994, Vikram played supporting roles in a series of films.

He also earned widespread critical acclaim for diverse roles of disadvantaged people in Kasi (2001), Samurai (2002) and Pithamagan (2003); the lattermost won him the National Film Award for Best Actor.

Amongst his other honours include the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2004 and an honorary doctorate by the Popular University of Milan in May 2011.

Vikram is the first Indian actor to receive the Doctorate in the history of the European Universities in acting.

Vikram has promoted various social causes and appeared as the Youth Envoy for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in 2011.

He has been a brand ambassador of Sanjeevani Trust and a school for special children, Vidya Sudha, which he stayed at during the making of Deiva Thirumagal as well as having long-term associations with the Kasi Eye Care and running his own welfare association through the Vikram Foundation.

Vikram's highest-grossing releases came with the romantic thriller I (2015) and the epic historical dramas Ponniyin Selvan: I (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: II (2023).

Based on the earnings of Indian celebrities, Vikram was included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list for 2016 and 2018.

In 2016, he produced and directed the video to the flood relief anthem, Spirit of Chennai, as a tribute to the city's volunteers following the 2015 South Indian floods.