Vijay or Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar (born 22 June 1974), known as VIJAY THALAPATHY, is an Indian actor and singer who works mainly in Tamil cinema as well as in Indin Cinema. Vijay is among the highest paid actors in India film Industry and has featured in Forbes India’s Celebrity 100 list on seven occasions. He has played the lead in 67 films. Referred to as Thalapathy (meaning in english is Commander), Vijay Thalapatti has a very excellent following internationally. Vijay Thalapatti has won several awards, including an OSAKA BEST ACTOR AWARD and a SOUTH INDIAN INTERNATIONAL MOVIE AWARD. In 2023, he became the highest paid actor in India during this time.
FAMILY BACKGROUND AND EARLY LIFE
Vijay Thalapathy was born as Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar on 22 June 1974 in Madras now in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His father, S. A. Chandrasekhar, is a Tamil film director and his mother, Shoba Chandrasekhar, is a playback singer and carnatic vocalist. His father is of Christian descent and his mother is a Hindu descent. Vijay Thalapathy was baptised at the age of 12. Vijay had a sister, Vidhya, who died when she was just two years old.
Initially he was attending Fathima Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Kodambakkam, Vijay later joined the Balalok Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Virugambakkam and went on to pursue a degree in Visual Communications from Loyola College. While studying at the age of 18, he asked his father if “he would launch him“.
Vijay Thalapathy’s get his first role was in the drama, he continued to perform as a child artist in films until ITHU ENGAL NEETHI, which was directed by his father, S. A. Chandrasekhar. Vijay debuted as a main lead actor in the 1992 in a film NAALAYA THEERPU, produced by his father S. A. Chandrashekhar, and then he also co-starred with Vijayakanth in the film SENDHOORAPANDI. This film helped Vijay become popular in the interior areas of Tamil Nadu and South belt general audiences.
Vijay’s received his breakthrough in the film POOVE UNAKKAGA, which was directed by Vikraman. He made a friendly cameo appearance in the 2012 Bollywood film ROWDY RATHORE, starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Prabhu Deva. As a playback singer, Vijay Thalapatti has sung over thirty songs in his films, and he also completes his 25 years of singing in 2019.
CAREER
CHILD ACTOR AND TRANSITION INTO LEAD ROLES (1984 – 2003)
At the age of 10 years, Vijay Thalapatti started his film career as a child artist in VETRI (1984), earning his first paycheck of ₹500 rupees paid for by actor and movie producer P. S. Veerappa. Vijay Thalapatti then performed as a child actor in films such as KUDUMBAM (1984), VASANTHA RAAGAM (1986), SATTAM ORU VILAYAATTU (1987) and ITHU ENGAL NEETHI (1988). He also performed in the movie NAAN SIGAPPU MANITHAN (1985) as a co-star with RAJINIKANTH, who was the main lead actor.
Vijay Thalapathy started to play lead roles at the age of 18 starting with NAALAIYA THEERPU (1992). Vijay Thalapatti then appeared in the films SENTHOORAPANDI, RASIGAN, DEVA and COIMBATORE MAPPILLAI. They were commercially successful, though not critically acclaimed for his movies.
Vijay Thalapatti also starred in the films NERRUKKU NER, KADHALUKKU MARIYADHAI, NINAITHEN VANDHAI, PRIYAMUDAN and THULLADHA MANAMUM THULLUM which were released to positive reviews and were commercially successful. He then performed in the film NILAAVE VAA. This was followed by the films ENDRENDRUM KADHAL, NENJINILE, and MINSARA KANNA.
Vijay Thalapathy in 1996, performed in the VIKRAMAN directed by Poove Unakkaga, which he states gave him his “initial breaks” and caused his popularity to “reach great heights“. Vijay Thalapathy in 1997, he acted in KAALAMELLAM KAATHIRUPPEN which received a positive response from critics, and LOVE TODAY, which was applauded by audiences.
Vijay Thalapathy in 2000, he performed in KANNUKKUL NILAVU, which was Vijay’s 25th critically successful film, alongside two commercially successful romance films, KUSHI and PRIYAMAANAVALE. Vijay’s next successful films were FRIENDS, BADRI and SHAHJAHAN. In 2002, he starred in the action drama film THAMIZHAN alongside Hindi actress PRIYANKA CHOPRA. Later, he appeared in the romantic film Youth and the action film BAGAVATHI. Vijay Thalapatti began 2003 with the comedy film VASEEGARA and the supernatural film PUDHIYA GEETH.
STARDOM STATUS IN TAMIL CINEMA (2003 – 2011)
Following the action-romance movie trend THIRUMALAI in 2003, GHILLI, a film directed by S. Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam, was released. It co-starred Trisha and Prakash Raj with Vijay Thalapathy as the main lead in this film. GHILLI was the first Tamil film of all time to gross over ₹500 million, or ₹50 crore, at the domestic box office. The film grossed nearly $500,000 in the Malaysian film market. GHILLI also broke the record for the most people seeing a movie in the first week of its movie release, previously held by M. G. Ramachandran’s ADIMAI PENN (1969). Ghilli received favourable reviews. The Hindu stated that “Vijay, the hero whom the masses today identify with, and Prakash Raj, the inimitable villain in tow, this flick, “GHILLI”…on a winning track“.
Vijay Thalapathy in late 2007, he starred in the romantic thriller film AZHAGIYA TAMIL MAGAN, where he played the roles of protagonist and antagonist at the same time. Screen Daily, a British magazine, reported that AZHAGIYA TAMIL MAGAN had entered the top 10 Asian film box office hit charts in Malaysia in 2007. Barring the commercially successful VETTAIKAARAN (2009), all of his subsequent releases from AZHAGIYA TAMIL MAGAN, KURUVI and VILLU were average successes; all three films were more successful overseas. In 2009, Vijay became one of the highest paid actors in South India. In 2010, he acted in the action comedy film SURA, which was a box office failure. SURA was Vijay Thalapathy’s 50th film as a main lead actor.
Vijay Thalapathy’s GHILLI was followed by the commercially successful films MADHUREY and THIRUPAACHI in 2005. Later, Vijay Thalapathy starred in the commercially and critically successful films SACHEIN, SIVAKASI and POKKIRI. POKKIRI was one of the highest-grossing films in his career at the time in Tamil film industry.
Vijay Thalapathy in early 2011, joined up with director Siddique for the romantic comedy KAAVALAN. It received positive responses from both viewers and film critics, with a box office collection of ₹102 crore worldwide. KAAVALAN was screened at the SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL in China. KAAVALAN was a commercial success in China. During Diwali the same year, his next film, the action film VELAYUDHAM, directed by M. Raja and produced by V. Ravichandran, was released. VELAYUDHAM became one of the top-grossing films of 2011 became successful in between japanese audiences.
INCREASED CRITICAL AND COMMERCIAL SUCCESS GLOBALLY (2012–PRESENT)
Vijay Thalapathy‘s next release in 2012 was NANBAN. NANBAN was screened at the MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL in Australia. Vijay’s performance in the film received critical acclaim. NANBAN went on to have a 100-day theatrical run. The Indian Express reported the film Nanban grossed ₹150 crore at the box office. The action thriller THUPPAKKI, directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by S. Dhanu, was released on Diwali 2012 to positive reviews. The film became the third Tamil film to enter the ₹1 billion club domestically. THUPPAKKI became the highest-grossing film of Vijay Thalapathy’s career at the time, and the first of his films to gross over ₹1,800,000,000. THUPPAKKI movie was screened at the RUSSIAN FILM FESTIVAL.
After that his next film THALAIVAA, directed by A. L. Vijay, was released on 9 August 2013 worldwide to mixed reports and reviews, and had a delayed release in Tamil Nadu. THALAIVAA was an overall box office failure.
The film JILLA released in 2014 and ended up being a box office hit. Vijay Thalapathy again worked with A.R. Murugadoss in the action thriller KATHTHI. The film was released to critical acclaim. The Los Angeles Times called KATHTHI was a “success in style“. KATHTHI collected ₹130 crore at the box office. It was the second-highest-grossing Tamil film industry of 2014.
In 2015, the fairy tale fantasy film PULI was released, directed by Chimbu Deven. Puli received mixed reviews from critics, though Vijay was praised for venturing into a new genre. Puli was one of the highest-grossing films of 2015 in its entire run. The film’s satellite rights and distribution rights were sold for ₹100 crore. Since director Deven who is also a cartoonist, the film’s half-demon theme was partially based on the Japanese anime manga series INUYASHA, similar to which Vijay played a “Tiger-demon” with tiger’s teeth and blue eyes. THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD stated Vijay excels as a “Tiger-demon” in the film. IB Times reported that Puli was successful in foreign markets and is regarded as one of the Indian films that took the standard to an international level.
The action-thriller THERI directed by Atlee Kumar was released in April 2016 to mixed reviews from critics and audiences, with one reviewer criticizing the actor’s performance and the “predictable” storyline. It was the second-highest-grossing Tamil film of 2016 and Vijay Thalapathy’s second film to gross over ₹1,710,000,000. In 2017, the masala film BAIRAVAA was released. It received mixed reviews and it collected ₹115 crore at the box office.
Vijay Thalapathy’s 61st film, the action thriller MERSAL, was directed by Atlee Kumar and released on Diwali of 2017. It was both a critical and commercial success, becoming the first of Vijay Thalapathy’s films to gross over ₹2.5 billion. The film was also released in Japan in the cities of Tokyo, Ebina, Osaka and Nakaya. For his role in Mersal, Vijay was nominated for Best Actor at the National Film Awards UK in 2018. The film won the Best Foreign Language Film award at the same event. The film was Vijay’s third to be released in China after KAAVALAN (2011) and PULI (2015). The mersal film was also screened at the BUCHEON INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL in South Korea.
In 2018 the political drama film SARKAR was released with Vijay Thalapathy in the lead role, directed by A.R. Murugadoss. Keerthi Suresh played the female supporting role, this being her second collaboration with Vijay after BAIRAVAA. Following its release on Diwali 2018, Sarkar broke several collection records and entered the 100 Crore Club within two days. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned Vijay as a man with “swag” in the film. Sarkar was his second film to gross over ₹2.5 billion. SARKAR was released in Spain and screened in France and Japan.
BIGIL was released in 2019, directed by Atlee Kumar, is a football action drama film. Vijay Thalapathy underwent “special training” for his role in the film. BIGIL was Vijay Thalapathy’s last film of the decade. BIGIL received mixed reviews from Tamil movie critics, but Vijay Thalapathy was praised for the portrayal of his characters in the movies. This movie was becoming a commercial success for him, collecting more than ₹300 crore, became both the highest-grossing Tamil film of 2019 within three months of its release and the highest-grossing film of Vijay Thalapathy’s career. BIGIL was also the first Tamil film released in Egypt and Jordan. In 2020, BIGIL was the first Tamil film re-released in Germany and also achieved some good response from there.
In the same year, Lokesh Kanagaraj was selected as the director of Vijay’s film MASTER produced by Xavier Britto. MASTER was originally scheduled to be released on 9 April 2020 but, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation. It was released on 13 January 2021 in theatres. MASTER was the highest-grossing film in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a box office collection of $1.4 million within two days, surpassing the Hollywood movies release WONDER WOMAN 1984 and TENET within the same country. It was the first Indian film to periodically hold the number one spot globally for its year. The movie was screened at the INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF ALBERTA, Canada. Upon release, it received mixed to positive reviews from viewers, general audiences and critics. The film collected ₹300 crore worldwide and was declared a box office hit. The combined gross earnings of MERSAL, SARKAR, BIGIL and MASTER were determined to be over ₹1000 crore according to trade analysts with their trade figures.
The dark comedy action film BEAST was released theatrically on 13 April 2022, worldwide. This is movie directed by Nelson, who directed the Rajnikanth’s JAILER movie after BEAST. BEAST received mixed reports and reviews from critics. Roger Ebert, an American film critic website, reviewed the film Beast with 3/5 stars and called “Vijay as a stoic multifaced tiger with a multifaceted avatar“. BEAST was the highest grossing Tamil film in US premiere shows. Beast broke box office collection records in the international film markets of New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. The film was commercially successful, collecting ₹300 crore worldwide, and was one of the most viewed films on Netflix globally in 2022. It was the first Tamil cinema released theatrically in Uzbekistan.
The family action drama film VARISU was produced by Telugu film producer Dil Raju and directed by Vamshi Paidipally. Thaman S composed the music and background score for the film. VARISU was released theatrically worldwide on 11 January 2023 to polarizing reviews, while Vijay Thalapathy’s meta-comedy acting was pointed in this. VARISU collected ₹300 crore at the box office.In 2023. He starred in the action thriller, LEO, playing the titular role directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, marking his second collaboration with him after MASTER. This movie is the part of Lokesh Kanagraj’s LOKESH CINEMATIC UNIVERSE. It released worldwide on 19 October 2023 in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada languages or it was a Pan-India movie. The film’s soundtrack was composed by Anirudh Ravichandran, in his fourth collaboration with Vijay Thalapathy.
On 21 May 2023, director Venkat Prabhu and AGS Entertainment announced Vijay’s next movie, The working title of this THALAPATHY 68 because it was Vijay Thalapathy’s 68th in an as main lead. On December 2024 they announced the tittle THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME. The soundtrack will be composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, in his second collaboration with Vijay Thalapathy after two decades. It is set to be released in 2024. (In this movie we can se Vijay Thalapatti as school boy according to makers. For this scene Vijay Thalapathy already visited for scan his body in America VFX company.)
PERSONAL LIFE OF VIJAY THALAPATHY
Vijay Thalapathy married Sangeetha Sornalingam, a Sri Lankan Tamil whom he met in the United Kingdom, on 25 August 1999. They have two children. Vijay Thalapathy’s son, Jason Sanjay, made a cameo appearance with his father in VETTAIKAARAN (2009) and his daughter portrayed a small role as her father’s pre-teen daughter in the climax of THERI (2016).
The Income Tax Department raided Vijay Thalapathy’s residence in Chennai on 5th February 2020 and inquired about potential tax evasion, making note of his investment in immovable properties, which Vijay’s inherited from the production studio AGS ENTERTAINMENT. According reported information that Vijayn Thalapathy and AGS Entertainment producer Anbu Cheliyan were suspected of undisclosed payments and alleged tax fraud between them. Nearly around ₹65 crore was seized by the officials from the Cheliyan’s residence. The investigation took place while Vijay Thalapathy was shooting for his film MASTER in Cuddalore. Officials stated on 12 March, that nothing significant was found during the raid. Opponents of the BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY accused them of politically targeting Vijay Thalapathy through such raids because he was critical of them on demonetization and the GOODS and SERVICES TAX (India) in the movie MERSAL.
Chief Justice S.M. Subramaniam said that Vijay’s fan base considers him as a hero and he was expected to be one instead of a “reel” hero, further calling it an anti-national habit. Vijay Thalapathy on 15th July 2021, filed an appeal against defamatory statements made by the judge against him in Madras High court. Vijay Thalapathy’s appeal against the tax on 20 July 2021, exemption case issue and defamatory statements was moved to a different tax bench sector of the court. On 27 July 2021, a two-judge bench of MADRAS HIGH COURT stayed the earlier passed order by Judge S.M. Subramaniam that included the critical remarks and also stayed the order of a ₹1 lakh fine amount on his action. The court dismissed on 25 January 2022 and removed the defamatory critical statements made by Judge S.M. Subramaniam against Vijay Thalapathy. The court declared on 15th July 2022, that no fine should be imposed on the car imported since he had paid the full entry tax before January 2019, closing out the case.
NET WORTH
Vijay Thalapathy‘s net worth on 2021 ₹4200 million or ₹420 crore. Vijay Thalapathy earned a ₹100 crore salary for BEAST movie, and also earned an estimated ₹120 crore ₹150 crore for VARISU, marking him among the highest paid Indian actors in this decade. Vijay in 2023 earned ₹200 crore salary from VARISU and LEO, became one of the top paid actors in India and Tamil film Industry.
UPCOMING MOVIES OF VIJAY THALAPATHY
1. THE G.O.A.T The Greatest of All Time which was also marketed as the name G.O.A.T is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language film directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by AGS Entertainment. The stars Vijay Thalapathy in dual roles (not confirmed), leading an ensemble cast that includes Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Sneha, Laila, Meenakshi Chaudhary, Mohan, Jayaram, Ajmal Ameer, Yogi Babu, VTV Ganesh, Vaibhav, Premgi Amaren, Aravind Akash and Ajay Raj.
According some reports initially, Atlee Kumar was reported to direct this movie project, but subsequently, Venkat Prabhu was brought on board. The film was announced in May 2023 under the working title Thalapathy 68, as it is Vijay Thalapathy’s 68th film in a leading role, and the official title was announced in December 2023 as surprise for his fans and movie lovers. Principal photography began in October 2023. Yuvan Shankar Raja will compose the music in this movie. The cinematography and editing will be handled by Siddhartha Nuni and Venkat Raajen.
2. LEO 2 Thalapathy Vijay’s LEO took over the box office and how. Helmed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, the film arrived in cinemas on October 19, this year. After the post credit scenes, netizens pondered about whether this film LOKESH CINEMATIC UNIVERSE (LCU) or the filmmaker will come up with a sequel. It’s seems your wishes has been heard by the director Lokesh Kanagraj recently confirmed Leo 2. Leo is a part of LCU. In a recent event, Lokesh Kanagaraj opened up about the seuqel while answering the question on Leo 2, and said, “Leo 2 is definitely on, I’ll start to write after THALAIVAR171 & KAITHI 2 Definitely… It’s always fun to work with Vijay Anna.“
3. ATLEE KUMAR + SHAHRUKH KHAN + VIJAY THALAPATHY According to some reports, in an interview of JAWAN movie director Atlee Kumar said, ” I know the audience are expecting aakemia of VIJAY THALAPATHY in JAWAN movie. But in the movie we know this is not happen. Right now, I am writing a script which is a dual hero film, where we can see SHAHRUKH KHAN and VIJAY THALAPATHY in this roles.“