Vikram (actor)
Kennedy John Victor (born 17 April 1966), better known by his stage name Vikram, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil films, he has also worked in a few Malayalam films. He is among the most decorated actors in Tamil cinema, with laurels including seven Filmfare Awards South, a National Film Award, four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu. Based on the earnings of Indian celebrities, Vikram was included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list for 2016 and 2018.[3]
Vikram
Chiyaan Vikram, Kenny
- Actor
- playback singer
1990–present
2; including Dhruv
Vinod Raj (father), Rajeshwari (mother)
Kalaimamani (2004)
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). 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.[4] 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).
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.[5] 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.
Early life and family[edit]
Vikram was born as Kennedy John Victor on 17 April 1966 to a Christian father and a Hindu mother.[6] 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).[7] Vikram has two siblings, both younger to him. His brother, Arvind, appeared in the low-budget Tamil film, Eppo Kalyanam (2022).[8][9] 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.[10] 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.[6][11] 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.[12]
Vikram was educated at Montfort School, Yercaud (a boarding school in a hill station near Salem) and graduated in 1983.[10] 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.[12] 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.[13][10] 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.[12] 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.[13][14] 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.[15]
Other work[edit]
Film and television work[edit]
Apart from acting, Vikram has also been a part of other film-making processes with credits as a playback singer and as an assistant director. In 2000, Vikram and actress Meena launched a pop album titled Kadhalism, which the pair would sing and appear in music videos for, although the project was completed without much promotion.[127] Following the success of Bharadwaj's music for Vikram's 2002 film Gemini, Vikram sang a version of the hit song "O Podu!" for the extended version of the album.[44] During the making of Kanthaswamy in 2009, the music composer Devi Sri Prasad had asked Vikram to sing a few rough tracks during the film's song composition in Malaysia. The producers were impressed with his voice and Vikram ended up singing four songs in the film.[128] Furthermore, Vikram also recorded all four tracks in the Telugu version of the album titled Mallana.[129] He then went on to sing for a film he was unrelated to, by lending five different voices in "Meghame" for G. V. Prakash Kumar's album in Madrasapattinam.[130] He sang two further songs under Prakash Kumar for his Deiva Thirumagal, singing in the voice of his character, an adult with the maturity of a six-year-old.[131] In 2011, he sang the song "Laddu Laddu" for his film Rajapattai, under composer Yuvan Shankar Raja's direction.[132] Vikram announced his own production company Reel Life Entertainment in July 2009 and announced that Sasikumar would direct his first film, the action thriller Easan, featuring Samudrakani, Vaibhav, Abhinaya and Aparnaa Bajpai.[133] However, after 90% of the shoot had been completed, Vikram pulled out of the venture, citing that Sasikumar had overshot his budget and the director eventually bought and released the film.[134] The actor, however, was later listed as one of the three producers for the Tamil version of the 2013 film, David, thereby making his debut in film financing. Vikram has also worked as the assistant director under Shafi in Majaa, and has mentioned that he would like to direct a film in the future.[66]
In the media[edit]
Vikram is a prolific method actor, being often compared akin to Hollywood's Christian Bale. Since the success of Sethu, Vikram's intense performances and variety of roles have received critical acclaim.[141] His performances as a rogue turned mentally ill patient in Sethu, a gravedigger with autism spectrum disorder in Bala's Pithamagan, a Brahmin lawyer with multiple personality disorder in Anniyan and a mentally challenged adult with the maturity of a six-year-old boy in Deiva Thirumagal are all roles in which he played a mentally affected man, with Vikram mentioning that he does such roles to reinvent himself on screen.[142]
Furthermore, Vikram has enjoyed a fan following in Andhra Pradesh as a result of a series of successful dubbed Telugu films with Aparichitudu, dubbed from his Tamil film Anniyan, being among the most successful Telugu films of 2005. All his films are thus released in Telugu soon after their original release in Tamil, while Anniyan was also dubbed in Hindi as Aparichit.[14] He has also enjoyed success in Kerala, where his films have demanded large box office openings akin to Malayalam film stars.[12] In 2004, Vikram participated in a live stadium stage event organised by producer P. L. Thenappan titled "Vikram Mega Nite". The event, held in Singapore, attracted several hundreds of his South East Asian fans and was held in the form of a stage musical.[143] Vikram's pan-Indian popularity has also prompted him to be regularly considered for brand endorsements. In 2005, he was signed as Coca-Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu.[144] He has been the ambassador for Brooke Bond 3 Roses, Manappuram General Finance and Leasing Ltd and Josco Jewellers since 2010.[145][146][147] In 2015, Vikram has endorsed Big Deal TV, a celebrity-driven home shopping channel.[148]
He is amongst the most decorated actors in terms of awards in the history of Tamil cinema. He holds a National Film Award for Best Actor; a feat only matched by four other actors in Tamil films. Moreover, Vikram holds seven Filmfare Awards South, with the tally being only second to Kamal Haasan who has ten wins. In 2010 his film Raavan was promoted at the Cannes Film Festival and then screened at Venice Film Festival and the Busan International Film Festival.[89] Within weeks of release, Deiva Thirumagal was sent to the Asia Pacific Screen Awards after it was nominated by the Film Federation of India and the National Film Development Corporation.[149] Vikram is also a recipient of the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2004. Other recognitions includes a string of Cinema Express Awards, Vijay Awards and Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, including recognition in three different categories. In 2011, the media widely reported that Vikram was awarded an honorary doctorate from Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano (People's University of Milan) in the field of Fine Arts. In his next release, Deiva Thirumagal, he was credited as Dr. Chiyaan Vikram.[150][151][152] However, the Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano is an unaccredited diploma mill, with no official recognition as a university.[153]
Personal life[edit]
Vikram met Shailaja Balakrishnan in the late 1980s and married her in 1992 at Guruvayoor Temple in a mass wedding alongside dozens of couples.[18] The pair then had a low-key wedding ceremony conducted at the church at Loyola College, Chennai.[12] She hails from Thalassery, Kerala and now works as a psychology teacher at a leading Chennai school.[154] Shailaja also worked with the team of Deiva Thirumagal by giving professional advice on how people with special needs are treated and helping develop the character played by Vikram.[155]
The couple has a daughter Akshita born in 1993 and a son Dhruv born in 1997.[156] His daughter married Manu Ranjith, the great-grandson of M. Karunanidhi, on 30 October 2017.[157] He lives near the beach in Besant Nagar, Chennai and has stated that he would remain based in Chennai regardless of any offers in other regional films.[158]
His son Dhruv made his debut with Adithya Varma in 2019 which was the Tamil remake of the Telugu film Arjun Reddy.[159]