Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian actor and playback singer who works in Tamil cinema. In a career spanning over three decades, Vijay has acted in 68 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. He has won several awards as an actor. Referred to as "Thalapathy" (transl. commander), Vijay has a significant fan following.
The Vijay Award for Favorite Director is given by STAR Vijay as part of its annual Vijay Awards ceremony for Tamil (Kollywood) films.
Nanban (transl. Friend) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language coming-of-age comedy drama film directed by S. Shankar and produced by Gemini Film Circuit. The film stars Vijay, Srikanth, Jiiva, Sathyaraj, Ileana D'Cruz, Sathyan and Anuya, with S. J. Suryah and Vijay Vasanth in cameo appearances. It is a remake of the Rajkumar Hirani's 2009 Hindi-language film 3 Idiots, which itself is based on Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone. The film follows Venkat, Senthil and Srivatsan, who are on the search for their long lost friend, Panchavan Parivendhan.
Thuppakki ( transl. Gun) is a 2012 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by AR Murugadoss. Produced by Kalaipuli S. Thanu of V Creations, the film stars Vijay, Kajal Aggarwal and Vidyut Jammwal with Sathyan, Jayaram, Manobala and Zakir Hussain in supporting roles. It revolves around Jagadish, an intelligence officer in the Indian Army, who seeks to track down, destroy and deactivate a sleeper cell, after witnessing and barely escaping a bomb blast executed by the cell.
Vijay is an Indian actor, playback singer and politician who works in Tamil cinema. He made his cinematic debut in 1984 with Vetri, directed by his father, S. A. Chandrasekhar. After appearing in Chandrasekhar's films as a child artist, Vijay made his debut as a lead actor with Naalaiya Theerpu (1992) at the age of 18. He followed it with a role opposite Vijayakanth in Senthoorapandi (1993). Vijay went on to play lead roles in his father's directorial ventures such as Rasigan(1994) and Deva (1995)Vishnu Most of those films were successful commercially.
Arun Kumar, known professionally as Atlee, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and film producer best known for his work in Tamil cinema and Hindi Cinema. He initially worked as an assistant director under S. Shankar in the films Enthiran (2010) and Nanban (2012). He made his directorial debut with the film Raja Rani (2013), produced by Fox Star Studios, for which he was awarded Best Debut Director by the Vijay Award and the Tamil Nadu State award for best dialogue writer.
Vikram Vedha is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film written and directed by Pushkar–Gayathri and produced by YNOT Studios. The film, which is inspired by the Indian folktale Baital Pachisi, stars R. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi in titular roles, alongside Shraddha Srinath, Kathir, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Prem, Achyuth Kumar, Hareesh Peradi and Vivek Prasanna. In the film, Inspector Vikram sets out to track down and kill Vedha, a gangster. After voluntarily surrendering himself, Vedha tells Vikram three stories which change his perceptions of good and evil.
Mersal (transl. Zapped) is a 2017 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Atlee and produced by Thenandal Studio Limited, in the studio's hundredth film production. The film stars Vijay in triple roles, alongside S. J. Suryah, Kajal Aggarwal, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nithya Menen. Sathyaraj, Vadivelu, Hareesh Peradi, Kovai Sarala and Sathyan play supporting roles. It is the second out of the three collaboration between Vijay and Atlee, before they began working with others. The film follows two brothers who were separated after the younger one's birth; Vetri, a vigilante magician who is against the medical crimes and Maaran, a reputed doctor who charges meagre amounts from his patients.
Sarkar (transl. Government) is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language political action film directed by A. R. Murugadoss, who co-wrote the dialogues with B. Jeyamohan, and produced by Kalanithi Maran's Sun Pictures. The film stars Vijay, Keerthy Suresh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar in the lead roles, alongside Yogi Babu, Tulasi, Radha Ravi and Pala. Karuppiah. In the film, a corporate raider arrives in Tamil Nadu from the United States to cast his vote in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, only to find out that his vote has already been recorded as cast, leading to him raising awareness against electoral fraud and contesting as a non-partisan politician in the elections amidst several attempts made on his life and reputation.
Bigil is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language sports action drama film directed by Atlee and produced by AGS Entertainment. The film stars Vijay in the main dual lead role as father and son, alongside an ensemble cast of Nayanthara, Jackie Shroff, Vivek, Kathir, Daniel Balaji, Anandaraj, Yogi Babu, I. M. Vijayan, Arjan Bajwa, Indhuja Ravichandran, Reba Monica John, Amritha Aiyer, and Varsha Bollamma. It is the third and final collaboration of Vijay with Atlee after Theri (2016) and Mersal (2017). The film follows Michael "Bigil" Rayappan, a former footballer-turned-gangster, who ends up as coach of a women's football team.
"Aalaporaan Thamizhan"(transl. Tamizhan going to rule) is a 2017 Indian Tamil language song composed by A. R. Rahman, from the music album of Mersal. The song's lyrics were written by Vivek and sung by Kailash Kher, Sathyaprakash, Pooja AV, and Deepak. The song's music video is pictured upon actor Vijay. The song was released as first single track of the film on 10 August 2017. As of October 2020, the video song has grossed 176 million of views in YouTube. The song portrays about the popularity of Tamil speaking people all over the world. The song features Vijay as Vetrimaaran, praising Tamil heritage and pride following a wrestling match in Punjab.
Komal Shahani is an Indian fashion costume designer, who has worked in the Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu film industries for over a decade.
Mersal is the soundtrack of the 2017 Indian vigilante action film of the same name directed by Atlee, which stars Vijay in a triple role with Nithya Menen, Kajal Aggarwal and Samantha as the female leads. The film, which marked the 100th production of Thenandal Studio Limited, has a soundtrack album features four tracks composed by A. R. Rahman, in his first collaboration with Atlee and his third collaboration with Vijay after composing for Udhaya (2004) and Azhagiya Tamizh Magan (2007), whilst Vivek penned the lyrics for all the songs in the film's soundtrack, also in his first association with Rahman.
"Verithanam" (transl. Frenzy) is an Indian Tamil-language song from the 2019 sports action film Bigil directed by Atlee. Composed by A. R. Rahman, the song featured lyrics written by Vivek and sung by actor Vijay, who also played the protagonist in the film. It is the first song Vijay has recorded for Rahman. The song was released by Sony Music India on 1 September 2019, and its video version was unveiled on 1 November.
The 2017 Indian film Mersal was the subject of several controversies. The first of these was the issue of the title, where a lawsuit was filed against the producers for using the title for promotions. The release also faced complications following the Tamil Film Producers Council's strike following the double taxation issue; this was a protest against the 10% entertainment tax additionally over the 28% GST, with the last minute denial of censorship, after Animal Welfare Board of India denied NOC over the usage of few animals without their permission. Upon release, the film was criticised by several organisations including the Bharatiya Janata Party and the then ruling AIADMK government objected to scenes featuring Vijay criticising the recently introduced Goods and Services Tax, and another scene in which a character ridicules the Digital India initiative. The party demanded that those scenes must be removed from future viewership. The Indian Medical Association and several other medical associations called for a boycott on the film, following their criticism over the alleged cynical portrayal of doctors working in government-operated hospitals. Several opposition parties and the film fraternity of India condemned the actions instructed by political organisations as a critical attack on freedom of speech in India.
Shobi Paulraj is an Indian choreographer in the Kollywood industry. He is the founder of IBO Dance Studio.
