Film Career

Vijay has acted as a child actor in some of his father's films. His first lead role was in his father's film Naalaya Theerpu. His father S.A. Chandrasekhar decided to cast Vijayakanth, whom he worked with in many films, with Vijay in Sendhoorapandi. The movie had a decent run at the box office and Vijay was noticed. In 1996, Vijay starred in the blockbuster hit Poove Unakkaga directed by Vikraman. Shorlty after Vijay starred in another blockbuster Kadhalukku Mariyadhai. The film directed by Fazil became a huge box office hit and can be considered a trend setter. At this time Vijay was one of the industry's most popular stars.

During this time Vijay usually starred in romantic comedies and his dance abilities were being recognized. He also sang a few songs in his films and in the Vijayakanth and Surya Sivakumar starrer Periyanna. Vijay is one of the few lead actors of his generation to share the screen with veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan. This opportunity came in the film Once More directed by his father.

After hits in the 2000s such as Kushi, Priyamanavale, and Friends. He then had a string of films that did not do well in the box office and failed to receive much critical acclaim, however this did not affect his star status.

Thirumalai in 2004 was a turning point in Vijay's career. It was a commercial hit and he began to portray a new look with a trimmed mustache with beard. After that, he appeared in the Dharani-drected Ghilli, one of Vijay's biggest box office releases to date and ran for more than 220 days in theatres, for which the producer, A .M. Rathnam held a function on the 200th day. The movie also boosted the careers of co-stars Trisha Krishnan and Prakash Raj as the former became a popular leading lady, while the latter was flooded with many supporting roles in big banner films. The back to back hits made Vijay focus more on action films. His 2005 releases Thirupachi and Sivakasi both directed by Perarasu were also box office hits. These successful ventures made Vijay a "minimum-guarantee hero" amongst producers, distributors and theater owners. Despite the Perarasu directed films in 2005, he starred in Sachien, released in the middle of that year, which was the last romance film he appeared in till date.

The following venture was Aathi which did not meet success like the previous hits. Vijay then teamed up with Prabhu Deva Sundaram in Pokkiri, one of 2007's biggest hits. The film was praised for his performance as an undercover cop and the story which was a remake of a Telugu movie. Azhagiya Thamizh Magan was Vijay's next release in 2007. The film had a huge opening during its Diwali release. The film lost its fame after release, however it was Vijay's first film in portraying dual roles and working with Shriya Saran.

His latest venture Kuruvi in 2008 with Trisha Krishnan and Dharani as director had opened large to mixed reviews all over the world. The movie has been bringing in lots of profits since the release. ^[3][4]. Prabhu Deva Sundaram has announced his latest venture, Villu (which was previously titled as Singam) to have Vijay play the lead role. The two will team together after Pokkiri's success. Vijay will be working alongside Nayantara.