91 Facts About Vikram (actor)

Vikram is among the most decorated actors in Tamil cinema, with laurels including eight Filmfare Awards South, a National Film Award, four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu.

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

Vikram earned widespread critical acclaim for diverse roles of disadvantaged people in Kasi, Samurai and Pithamagan ; the lattermost won him the National Film Award for Best Actor.

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

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

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

Vikram was educated at Montfort School, Yercaud and graduated in 1983.

Vikram 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 Moliere's The Doctor in Spite of Himself after the original lead had contracted chicken pox.

Vikram 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.

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.

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

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 Pudhiya Mannargal he had signed and hence was dropped from the project.

Vikram has mentioned that he did not look down on dubbing and saw it as a "dignity of labour".

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

Vikram appeared in three successful Malayalam films by appearing with Mammootty, Suresh Gopi and Jayaram in Joshi's successful action film Dhruvam, before teaming up with Gopi again for Shaji Kailas's Mafia, which explored Bangalore's criminal underworld.

Vikram collaborated again with Mammootty in Indraprastham and Suresh Gopi in Rajaputhran, before appearing in his first lead role in Malayalam with Itha Oru Snehagatha opposite Laila.

However, Vikram acknowledged the film for expanding his female fan base as a result of the soft-personality of his character.

Vikram has playing a short role in Parthiban's critically acclaimed film House Full, respectively.

Vikram described the period of production as "the worst phase of his career" as he was financially strapped and "his fire was in danger of dying down".

Vikram turned down an opportunity from a friend to take up a job in technology and attempted to stay in the industry by directing a serial titled Mounam Pesiyadhey, with Ameer as his assistant director.

Vikram was constantly being mobbed by people on the streets as a result of the film's success.

Post-Sethu, Vikram has said that the film would always remain close to him regardless of its commercial success and that it put him on the "right path", with Vikram choosing to adapt the prefix of Chiyaan to his screen name.

Vikram began to turn down chances to play supporting roles in films and was intent on making a breakthrough as a lead actor and notably turned down the role of Swarnamalya's fiancee in Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey.

Vikram rejected approaches from television serial producers, citing that working in television would reduce his chances of becoming a mainstream actor.

Vikram refused opportunities to take part in film events as a backing dancer, with actor Sriman revealing that Vikram was "one amongst not many" who was not interested in travelling to Canada to participate in such shows.

Vikram did not sign up to a film for 65 days after the release of Sethu, to ensure that he made the right career move.

Vikram spent time completing projects he had agreed to feature in before the release of Sethu and hence made a couple of appearances in the Malayalam films Red Indians and the horror film Indriyam.

Vikram played a leading role in Siragugal, a rare Tamil telefilm produced and featuring Radhika, which was shot entirely in the suburbs of London.

Vikram has since mentioned his displeasure at being a part of the film, claiming that he had arguments with the director for every single shot and that "everything in that film, right from the first shot was wrong"; the film became a failure commercially.

The film opened to positive reviews, with a critic from The Hindu claiming that "Vikram has the ability and potential" and that "Vikram has proved that his success in Sethu was not a fluke".

The action film received positive reviews, with a critic citing that Vikram "delivers a convincing performance" and consequently became a "box office triumph".

Vikram had signed the film in early 2000 and the film was on hold during production, leading to a two-year delay and the film finally opened to average reviews and box office collections.

Vikram played Raja, a magician, who is unaware that he has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, with his family trying to keep the truth away from him.

The film became a blockbuster and his fifth success in two and a half years, with Vikram being dubbed as "the matinee idol of our times" by a leading Indian newspaper.

Vikram featured in the romantic film Kadhal Sadugudu, with Priyanka Trivedi which was a critical and commercial failure, with reviewers claiming that "there are times you wish Vikram were a little more brisk and dynamic" in regard to his performance.

Vikram was then signed on by K Balachander to appear in his banner's biggest production at the time, the masala film Saamy, directed by Hari.

Vikram played Aarusaamy, an honest cop working in Tirunelveli, who solves the region's communal problems with his down-to-earth approach.

Vikram worked on his body for the film, sporting a thick waist to show notable differences from his other police film, Dhill and put on eight kilograms.

Vikram did not have any dialogue in the film and the actor's acting muscles were stretched as he had to use body language and facial expressions to convey his feelings and thoughts, with Vikram applying the make-up for the character himself.

Vikram signed on to feature in the action thriller Anniyan, directed by prominent director Shankar in March 2004.

Vikram agreed to shoot for the film for 140 days, which was revealed to be amongst the longest contracts signed by an actor in a Tamil film.

Vikram then signed up for Bheema in October 2005, with the film facing severe delays and only releasing in January 2008.

The film saw him portray Sekhar, who grows up idolizing the gangster played by Prakash Raj, and Vikram revealed that he approached the film like an actor, even though the film's script was written "for a star".

Sudhish Kamath of The Hindu labelled the film as "slow death", claiming that "as an actor, Vikram has nothing to do".

Vikram revealed that changes between the two characters during filming took up to 45 minutes, with Abhishek Bachchan playing the tribal leader in the Hindi version, whilst Prithviraj played the cop in the Tamil version, with Aishwarya Rai as the female lead.

Vikram was initially apprehensive, because both roles were to be shot almost simultaneously, but revealed that he succeeded by showing differences in his body language and expressions.

Vikram revealed that he and Abhishek Bachchan played the roles in the respective versions without inspiration from one another.

The Tamil version, Raavanan won rave reviews from critics, with The Hindu calling it a "master-stroke" and claiming that Vikram "raises the bar higher with every venture".

Vikram then agreed terms to feature in Vikram Kumar's 24, produced by Mohan Natarajan, with Ileana D'Cruz signed on to play the female lead role.

Vijay, saw Vikram portray a father with a developmental disability having the mental maturity of a seven-year-old.

Vikram communicated with the patients, to pick up the nuances of people with impaired speech.

Vikram has since gone on to describe his role as Krishna as the best character he has ever portrayed.

Vikram next featured in Rajapattai, alongside Deeksha Seth, under the direction of Suseenthiran, where he played a henchman trying to get a break in the Tamil film industry.

Vikram completed half of a fantasy period film during 2011, Karikalan, in which he played Karikala Chola, a Tamil king who ruled in 270 BC, opposite Zarine Khan, under the direction of graphics director Kannan, but the film was later shelved owing to production troubles.

Vikram then appeared in his second project with director Vijay, portraying the lead role of a blinded RAW agent in the action-thriller, Thaandavam.

The film was partially reshot in Tamil in the same title for which Vikram was one of the producers.

Vikram signed on to collaborate again with Shankar for I, a romantic thriller opposite Amy Jackson, in early 2012.

Vikram put on weight to portray the bodybuilder, sticking to a diet of protein and coffee, to ensure his muscles were defined on screen.

Vikram subsequently lost weight to portray a model, before shaving his head and reducing his weight to 56 kilograms to portray the crippled hunchback.

Vikram changed his physique by eating small meals of egg whites and apples instead of regular food intake, while engaging in an intensive weight loss regimen to become thin.

Vikram then worked on Vijay Milton's road-thriller, 10 Enradhukulla, which featured him as an unnamed race driver who goes on a road trip through India.

Vikram later appeared in Iru Mugan, a science fiction action film directed by Anand Shankar, featuring him alongside Nayanthara and Nithya Menen.

In 2022, Vikram appeared in Kartik Subbaraj's Mahaan as Gandhi Mahaan, along with his son Dhruv Vikram.

Vikram played Aditya Karikalan in Mani Ratnam's film Ponniyin Selvan, which released in late 2022.

In Ponniyin Selvan 2 Vikram reprised the role of Aditya Karikalan achieving cult status for his intense and emotional portrayal as the Chola prince winning him the Best Actor at Filmfare, SIIMA and IIFA awards.

Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute noted "A fantastic Vikram makes PS-2 a worthy sequel" The film was a huge success at the box office collecting over 345 crores.

Apart from acting, Vikram has been a part of other film-making processes with credits as a playback singer and as an assistant director.

The producers were impressed with his voice and Vikram ended up singing four songs in the film.

Furthermore, Vikram recorded all four tracks in the Telugu version of the album titled Mallana.

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.

Vikram has worked as the assistant director under Shafi in Majaa, and has mentioned that he would like to direct a film in the future.

Vikram has promoted various social causes with several of his charity works being linked to characters he had portrayed in his films.

Vikram has been a brand ambassador of Sanjeevani Trust and a school for special children Vidya Sudha, where he stayed during the making of Deiva Thirumagal.

Vikram has set up The Vikram Foundation through his fan club to provide heart operations for the poor, educate poor children and rehabilitate victims from natural disasters.

Every year, Vikram has celebrated his birthday doing charity work across Tamil Nadu and in 2008, he organised a camp where a thousand of his fans pledged their eyes in an eye donation appeal.

Vikram has lent his support for the Chennai-based charity The Banyan, and appeared in the charity musical Netru, Indru, Naalai directed by Mani Ratnam for the cause.

Vikram is a prolific method actor, being often compared akin to Hollywood's Christian Bale.

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.

Vikram has enjoyed success in Kerala, where his films have demanded large box office openings akin to Malayalam film stars.

In 2004, Vikram participated in a live stadium stage event organised by producer P L Thenappan titled "Vikram Mega Nite".

Vikram has been the ambassador for Brooke Bond 3 Roses, Manappuram General Finance and Leasing Ltd and Josco Jewellers since 2010.

In 2015, Vikram has endorsed Big Deal TV, a celebrity-driven home shopping channel.

Vikram is amongst the most decorated actors in terms of awards in the history of Tamil cinema.

Vikram holds a National Film Award for Best Actor; a feat only matched by five other actors in Tamil films.

Vikram is a recipient of the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu in 2004.

In 2011, the media widely reported that Vikram was awarded an honorary doctorate from Universita Popolare degli Studi di Milano in the field of Fine Arts.

Vikram met Shailaja Balakrishnan in the late 1980s and married her in 1992 at Guruvayoor Temple in a mass wedding alongside dozens of couples.