The actor didn’t get his big break till 1997 when director Bala who was making his directorial debut offered him the role of Sethu.
Kenny Victor, or Vikram as he was rechristened, is an actor who came into the Tamil film industry with no godfather to help him. He struggled for many years before becoming a success. Vikram started his modelling career in the 1990s and did numerous small roles, including dubbing dialogues for other actors. But he didn’t get his big break till 1997 when director Bala who was making his debut offered him the role of Sethu. Since then Vikram has scaled new heights and today has one National Award for Best Actor and six Filmfare Awards in his kitty. As he turns 50, here’s a look at five of the best films in his career.
Sethu
This film broke box office records when it released in 1997. Vikram played the title role of Sethu in the romantic drama directed by Bala. Chiyaan, as he was called in the movie, is a local college rowdy who ends up falling in love with a temple priest’s daughter. One day he is attacked by other thugs and ends up losing his memory. When he regains his memory he escapes from the mental institution to find his love. As she kills herself, he ends up losing his mind once again. The movie showcased Vikram’s talent and his portrayal of Sethu was applauded by the industry and audience alike. Vikram arrived in Kollywood with this film and how! The movie went on to remade in various languages, including in Hindi where it was remade as Tere Naam with Salman Khan in the lead.
Pithamagan
Director Bala and Vikram once again came together in 2003 for their film Pithamagan. In this film, Vikram shared screen space with Suriya. The film is based on Jayakanthan’s novel Nandhavanathil Oru Andi which is the story of an undertaker Chithan. Moving from the world of corpses to the real world, Chithan goes through various experiences, relationships and even failure. In the end he loses everything and goes back to the world of corpses. Vikram won the National Film Award for Best Actor for this film.
Saamy
This 2003 movie was another box office superhit for Vikram. In the film, directed by Hari, Vikram plays a cop with Trisha as the leading lady. This action-packed romance showed off his skills in action and his diverse acting chops. His cop moustache and macho image in the film was loved by the audience. The movie was remade in other languages like Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Hindi. Director KS Ravikumar remade this film in Hindi as Policegiri with Sanjay Dutt.
Anniyan
In 2005, director Shankar and Vikram came together to make a vigilante thriller that started a new trend of filmmaking in Kollywood. Anniyan is about a man who wants to right all the wrongs in society and he takes on numerous avatars to achieve this. Vikram once again proved that he is a versatile actor who can do whatever it takes for roles in a movie. This action film also had great music by AR Rahman and the visuals added to the experience. The visual effects played a major role in this film. The film went on to bag numerous Filmfare Awards, Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and a National Award for Best Special Effects.
I
A decade later, Vikram got back together with director Shankar for I. The actor essayed the role of a bodybuilder who becomes a top model and falls in love with Amy Jackson, another model. Suddenly he realises he has a rare genetic disease that leads to deformity. When he finds out that he was injected with a virus to cause this disease, he begins to take revenge. Vikram went through a tough physical transformation to play the role of the bodybuilder and then as someone who was deformed. The actor was praised for his performance and commitment to the role.
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