Vijayakanth
Vijayakanth was born as Vijayaraj Alagarswami in Madurai on 25 August 1952. His parents are K. N. Alagarswami and Aandal Azhagarswami. He married Premalatha on 31 January 1990 and has two sons named Vijaya Prabhakaran and Shanmuga Pandian, an actor. Vijayakanth is one of very few Tamil actors to have acted only in Tamil films throughout his career. His films have mostly been dubbed into Telugu and Hindi. Vijayakanth, had the title "Puratchi Kalaignar" (revolutionary artist) in the film industry. He is also known for portraying a patriotic, village do-gooder and dual role acting in his films. He has acted in more than 20 films as a police officer. He is best known for low-budget films that showcased gravity-defying stunts in which he would single-handedly dispatch his enemies. Most of his films revolved around corruption, honesty and keeping up promises. He worked 3 shifts per day and that was his dedication towards his craft. Vijayakanth took delayed remunerations and sometimes didn't take them at all to benefit the struggling producers. More importantly, he didn't try to publicize these and had let the world see it for themselves and take inspiration. Upon entering the film industry to pursue an acting career, he changed to "Vijayakanth", dropping the "Raj" out of his name and suffixing it with "Kanth," by his first film M. A. Kaja's "Inikkum Ilamai" (1979). He then had success with "Sattam Oru Iruttarai" (1981), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar; with whom he did movies mostly. He got the sobriquet "Captain" after the 100th film, "Captain Prabhakaran" (1991). Vijayakanth was cast in "Inikkum Ilamai" (1979), his first film where he played an antagonist, which was directed by M. A. Kaja. His subsequent films "Agal Vilakku" (1979), "Neerottam" (1980) and "Saamanthippoo" (1980) were followed box-office flops. His film "Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam" (1980), was screened at the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India. However the film that strongly launched him as a commercial hero was "Sattam Oru Iruttarai" (1981), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. It was remade in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages. In his formative years, Vijayakanth acted in films carrying revolutionary and radical thoughts such as "Sivappu Malli" (1981) and "Jadhikkoru Needhi" (1981). In these films, he brilliantly portrayed the angry young revolutionist characters. He then played a villain role in "Om Shakti" (1982) but after which he has never portrayed antagonist characters in his career. Slowly he started acting in commercial films on action, romance and sentiment themes and gradually rose to the top and with many super hits films like "Nooravathu Naal" (1984) and "Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal" (1984). This year, he had 18 releases. He became the Tamil cinema actor to release the most films in a year in the lead role. He acted in "Annai Bhoomi 3D" (1985), the first 3D film made in the Tamil film industry where he acted alongside Radha Ravi and Kannada actor Tiger Prabhakar. He co-starred with Kannada superstar actor Vishnuvardhan in "Eetti" (1985). The romantic comedy film "Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri" (1985), in which he is a self-centered egoistic village Zamindar, who makes fun of people was a commercial success. He acted in "Amman Kovil Kizhakale" (1986), which earnt him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil. He also acted in "Manakanakku" (1986), "the only film where Kamal Haasan and Vijayakanth worked together, followed by "Oomai Vizhigal" (1986) which became a cult classic. It portrayed him in an unusual role of an aged cop. He became an indisputable competitor of stalwarts Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. In 1987, he co-starred with Sivaji Ganesan in "Veerapandiyan", followed by successful movies as "Cooliekkaran", "Veeran Veluthambi", "Ninaive Oru Sangeetham", "Sattam Oru Vilayaattu" and "Uzhavan Magan". In 1988, he worked in films such as "Therkathi Kallan" and "Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran". In "Senthoora Poove", Vijayakanth won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. In 1989, he also starred in two other super hit films such as "Paattukku Oru Thalaivan" and "Ponmana Selvan". This also followed like crime film "Rajanadai" and the devotional film "Meenakshi Thiruvilayadal". Throughout the 1990s, Vijayakanth excelled in versatile roles in a variety of films falling under various genres though he is more popular as an action hero including "Pulan Visaranai" and had R. Sarathkumar portraying the antagonist. Directed by R. K. Selvamani, this film was considered to be one of the best Tamil crime thrillers of its time. Vijayakanth starred superhit cop flick "Sathriyan", produced by Mani Ratnam, about an honest cop and a corrupt politician. After the success of "Pulan Visaranai", Rowther decided to start another project with Vijayakanth and director R. K. Selvamani, titled "Captain Prabhakaran" (1991). It was Vijayakanth's 100th film, after which he earned the sobriquet "Captain" ever since he portrayed an IFS officer. After M.G.R, Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa, he is the only actor to have tasted a silver jubilee hit in his 100th film. The film was a commercial success upon its release, followed by "Maanagara Kaaval" (1991) and "Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum" (1991). Vijayakanth worked in films such as "Chinna Gounder" (1992). This film was radically different from Vijayakanth's earlier portrayals, as he was donning the role of a soft-spoken village chieftain. This film was ranked third in Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film, followed by "Bharathan" (1992), "Thai Mozhi" (1992) and "Kaviya Thalaivan" (1992). He has also appeared in various roles such as "Koyil Kaalai" (1993), "Ezhai Jaathi" (1993), "Sakkarai Devan" (1993), "Rajadurai" (1993) and "Enga Muthalali" (1993). He co-starred with the son of the director S. A. Chandrasekhar, Vijay in "Sendhoorapandi" (1993), where Vijayakanth plays the role of elder brother. Director SAC thought a film with Vijayakanth would give an impetus to Vijay's film career. Vijayakanth played an extended cameo role in this film for which he did not take any remuneration. He turned out to be a hit. In 1994, he appears in "Sethupathi IPS", "Honest Raj", "Pathavi Pramanam", "En Aasai Machan" and "Periya Marudhu". He then acted in "Karuppu Nila" (1995), "Thirumoorthy" (1995) and "Gandhi Pirantha Mann" (1995). For his performance in the action film "Thayagam" (1996), he won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize. This was followed by "Tamizh Selvan" and "Alexander". In 1997, his film "Dharma Chakkaram" (1997), was directed by K. S. Ravikumar. He acted in his 125th film "Ulavuthurai" (1998), followed by "Dharma" (1998) and "Veeram Vilanja Mannu" (1998). His following films were "Kallazhagar" (1999), "Periyanna" (1999) where he played alongside Suriya. He also starred in R. B. Choudary's production, "Kannupada Poguthaiya" (1999) which was a commercial success. In 2000s, Vijayakanth continued his success streak with blockbusters films as "Vaanathai Pola" a rural family drama directed by Vikraman, which won two awards; a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film of the year and National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. This was followed by "Vallarasu" and "Simmasanam". After this year, he again played in action films such as "Vaanchinathan" (2001) directed by Shaji Kailas and "Narasimha" (2001). Then came "Viswanathan Ramamoorthy" (2001), in which he made a cameo appearance and the village drama "Thavasi" (2001). All these films received mixed reviews from critics at the box office. In 2002, He acted in "Raajjiyam" followed by "Devan", co-starring with the actor and directed by Arun Pandian. In director AR Murugadoss's "Ramanaa", he underplayed as a realistic action hero and gave life to the role of an anti-corruption crusader. He won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film of the year and became a commercially successful. In 2003, he had two releases, "Chokka Thangam", a family drama and "Thennavan", a political film. In 2004, he appeared in a comedy drama, "Engal Anna" which was a success, however "Gajendra" and "Neranja Manasu" received negative reviews. Later, he did a special appearance in Suriya's film "Maayavi" (2005) as himself. In 2006, he acted in three action films, "Sudesi", "Perarasu" and "Dharmapuri". The next year, he starred in "Sabari" (2007). His 150th film was "Arasangam" (2008), about a police officer who discovers and unravels the mystery behind a terrorist gang plotting to steal information about the growth of the Indian economy, set in Chennai then Toronto. He acted in the drama "Mariyadhai" (2009), in the second film with director Vikraman, after "Vaanathai Pola" followed by the action "Engal Aasan" (2009), where he co-starred with Vikranth, the cousin of actor Vijay. Vijatakanth acted and directed the film, "Virudhagiri" (2010), a remake of the French film "Taken". After taking a hiatus of five years without films, he made a cameo appearance with his son, the first film of actor Shanmuga Pandian in "Sagaptham" (2015). In November 2015, he came back to acting in a feature film - Arun Ponnambalam's "Thamizhan Endru Sol", alongside his son, Shanmuga Pandian, the second film with him. The film began production during November 2015, and had been temporarily suspended owing to the upcoming TN Assembly elections and the deteriorating health of Vijayakanth. In 2018, Vijayakanth celebrated 40 years in Tamil cinema and has more than 150 films to his credit. Vijayakanth is listed by IMDb as the top 25 Tamil actors of all time. ! scope="row" | 1994
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! scope="row" | 2011 He founded Shri Andal Alagar College of Engineering in 2001. His wife is the chairperson of this college. On 1 October 2001, Vijayakanth declared that 1 October, which is actor Sivaji Ganesan's birthday, be observed as Actors' Day in Tamil Nadu. In 2001, he was the former president of South Indian Film Artistes' Association and under his presidency, the debts of the association were cleared by organising celebrity shows overseas. Vijayakanth has launched a 24-hour television channel called Captain TV on 14 April 2010. He later launched a 24-hour news channel called Captain News on 29 August 2012. The media has widely publicized an ongoing dispute between Vijayakanth and comedic actor Vadivelu, who was Vijayakanth's co-star in a number of notable films. On 21 September 2008, Vadivelu's residence, located in Saligramam in Chennai, was pelted with stones by a gang, leaving several windows and furniture damaged. Vadivelu reported that he suspected that it was Vijayakanth's men, because of a court case which he had filed against Vijayakanth for assault, for which the final court hearing was to take place the following day. Filing another case for attempted murder against Vijayakanth, Vadivelu mentioned his interest in competing against him in the next assembly elections and "teaching him a lesson." In response, Vijayakanth told a press meet on that Vadivelu's allegations are based on hearsay. During the legislative assembly elections in Tamil Nadu in 2011, Vadivelu vehemently campaigned for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and its alliance. During his public speeches, he predominantly condemned Vijayakanth, whose party, the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), allied with the opposition party All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). In a campaign speech in Tiruvarur, Vadivelu stated that "(his) only aim is to sweep out Vijayakanth's whole team and to campaign vigorously for DMK's victory". Vadivelu was criticized as being biased, only supporting a DMK-led victory for personal gains and not once mentioning the then-official opposition, the AIADMK, or its leader, J. Jayalalitha. In a turn of events, the election was eventually successful for the AIADMK alliance, while Vijayakanth was victorious by a significant margin in his own constituency. While speaking at an election campaign meeting in 2016, he criticized Rajinikanth, causing a considerable backlash from supporters of Rajinikanth. He has been criticized for making obscene gestures in public, often towards journalists.
Acting career
Before entering politics Vijayakanth was a successful actor, producer and director.