Vijay (actor)

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Vijay

Vijay in 2015
Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar

Born 22 June 1974 (age 44)[1]

Madras, Tamil Nadu, India (now
Chennai)
Residence Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality Indian
Alma mater Loyola College, Chennai
Occupation Film actor, playback singer
1984–1988 (child actor)
1992–present (lead
Years active actor)

Sangeeta Sornalingam
Spouse(s)
(1999–present)
Children 2
S. A. Chandrasekhar
(father)
Parent(s)
Shoba (mother)
 Relatives See Chandrasekhar family

C. Joseph Vijay,[2] professionally known as Vijay, is an Indian film

actor and playback singer who works in Tamil cinema. He is one of the
highest paid actors in Tamil cinema.[3] Vijay is referred to by fans and
media as Thalapathy (commander).[4]

Vijay at the age of ten marked his childhood cinematic debut in

drama Vetri (1984), he continued to perform as child artist in films till
Ithu Engal Neethi (1988), directed by his father S. A. Chandrasekhar.
He then featured in the film Naalaiya Theerpu (1992) in lead role at
the age of eighteen also directed by his father, but he received his
breakthrough in the film Poove Unakkaga (1996), which was directed
by Vikraman.[5][6] To date, he has acted in 61 movies as a lead actor
and has won numerous awards including notable three Tamil Nadu
State Film Awards, one Cosmopolitan Award, one Indiatoday Award,
one SIIMA Award, eight Vijay Awards, three Edison Awards, two
Vikatan Awards and one National Award UK.[7]

As a playback singer, Vijay has sung 32 songs to date, starting with

Bombay City (1994) to Papa Papa (2017). He also garnered global
attention for his singing work in Selfie Pulla (2014) topping the charts
across Europe.[8] In addition to his acting and singing career, he is
also a dancer known for his signature dance steps in his films.[9]
Some of his film works were screened at the prestigious Shanghai
International Film Festival China[10], Melbourne International Film
Festival Australia[11] and Bucheon International Fantastic Film
Festival South Korea.[12]

Contents
1 Early life and family
2 Film career

o 2.1 Child artist 1984–1988

o 2.2 Beginnings 1992–1996
o 2.3 Breakthrough 1996–2003
o 2.4 Widespread success 2003–2010
o 2.5 2011–2016 International fame
o 2.6 2017–present
o 2.7 Bollywood presence
o 2.8 Telugu cinema

3 In the media and other works

o 3.1 Brand endorsement

o 3.2 Philanthropy

4 Discography
 5 Filmography
6 Awards
7 References
8 External links

Early life and family

Vijay was born on 22 June 1974 as Joseph Vijay in Madras (now
Chennai). He is a Roman Catholic. He received his first Holy
Communion at a church in Chennai.[13] His father S. A.
Chandrasekhar is a Tamil film director and his mother Shoba is a
playback singer and carnatic vocalist. He had a sister Vidhya, who
died when she was two years old. Vidhya's death affected Vijay very
much. It has been said by his mother that Vijay, who was very
talkative, naughty and hyperactive as a child, became silent after
Vidhya's death.[14] His sibling Vidhya's story is depicted in the 2005
film Sukran, where Vijay played an extended
cameo.[15][better source needed]

Vijay spent his entire childhood in Chennai. He did his schooling

initially in Fathima Matriculation Higher Secondary School[16] at
Kodambakkam and later joined Balalok Matriculation Higher
Secondary School[17] at Virugambakkam and went on to pursue a
degree in Visual Communications from Loyola College, though he
eventually dropped out as he was more interested in pursuing
acting.[14]

Vijay married a fan of his,[18] Sangeetha[19] Sornalingam, a Hindu

British Sri Lankan Tamil, on 25 August 1999.[20] They have two
children, a son Jason Sanjay born in 2000 in London[21] and a
daughter Divya Shasha born in 2005 in Chennai.[22] Jason Sanjay
made a cameo appearance with his father in Vettaikaaran (2009) and
Divya Shasha portrayed a small role as her father's pre-teen daughter
in Theri (2016).