Vijay has tasted stardom since 1992 when he started his career in Tamil cinema as an actor and a playback singer. Joseph Vijay Chandrashekhar was born to the director S.A.Chandrashekhar and the singer Shoba Chandrashekhar on 22nd June 1974 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He studied Visual Communications at the Loyola College in Chennai. Vijay tied the knot with his Sri Lankan fan, Sangeetha Sornali
ngam in 2000. They have two children Jason Sanjay and Divya Saasha. His popularity helped him land a deal with Coca Cola as their brand ambassador in Chennai. He is also associated with the IPL franchisee Chennai Super Kings.
1992 to 1999 Vijay made his debut as an actor with Naalaya Theerpu (1992) which was directed by his father. He built his reputation with movies like Deva (1994), Rasigan (1994), Vishnu (1995), Poove Unakkagu (1996) and Love Today (1997). In 1997, he won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor for his role in Kadhalukku Mariyadhari. It was a high grosser and one of his biggest hits. He even sang a track ‘Oh Baby Baby’ in this movie.
2000 to 2009 After delivering successful movies like Thirumalai (2003) and Madhurey (2004), Vijay was lauded for his performance as a kabaddi player in Dharani’s Ghilli (2004) and in Thirupaachi (2005) in which he starred with Trisha. The latter won him a Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Actor. In Sivakasi (2005), he worked with Asin and the movie turned out to be another hit. Prabhu Deva’s Pokkiri (2007), saw him with Asin again, as a thug. Another major hit was Azhagiya Thamizh Magan (2007) with Shriya Saran. He played a dual role in the movie. He saw an average success with Kuruvi (2008). He got a chance to play a dual role once again with Villu (2009) which released in the early part of 2009. The movie didn’t do as well as expected at the box office. His next release in 2009 is Vettaikkaaran with Anushka Shetty.
