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Meet National award-winning actor who once spent 3 years in wheelchair, and is one of the biggest actors in South Indian Cinema
Meet the pan-Indian actor who has become a prominent face in the South entertainment Industry. Check out
He is an actor, performer, charmer, and most importantly a fighter. This pan-Indian star is a National award-winning actor who has worked in Tamil, Hindi, and Malayalam movies.
His thirst to become an actor helped him to recover from a deadly accident that happened in his childhood. The accident was so bad that he would have lost his leg. Guess who? Well, we are talking about Chiyaan Vikram.
Who is Vikram?
Kennedy John Victor fondly called by his stage name Vikram was born on 17 April 1966. He comes from an interfaith family background. Vikram’s father, John Victor (alias Vinod Raj) is a Christian, and his mother Rajeshwari is Hindu.
While his father has appeared in several South films in minor roles, Vikram’s mother was a government officer who reached the rank of sub-collector. He has two younger siblings. Vikram’s brother, Arvind, appeared in the Tamil film, Eppo Kalyanam (2022) while his sister, Anitha is a teacher.
Vikram’s education
Coming back to the Thangaalan actor, he completed his initial education at Montfort School, Yercaud, and graduated in 1983. As a child, he participated in karate, horseback riding, and swimming at school and noted that such early exposure to activities gave him confidence.
Although Vikram expressed interest in joining film after school, his father forced him to pursue education, and he graduated from Loyola College, Chennai with a degree in English Literature and worked halfway towards an MBA.
Vikram’s filmography
Vikram stepped into the industry in 1990 with the film En Kadhal Kanmani. This was followed by a series of Tamil and Telugu films and supporting roles in a few Malayalam films throughout the early decade. After that, the actor has been part of several commercial blockbuster films.
Vikram has garnered widespread recognition for his exceptional performances. He has also won several awards including a prestigious National award. In 2003, his performance in his film Pithamagan got him the National Award for Best Actor.
Apart from that, his notable works include Dhill (2001), Gemini (2002), Dhool (2003), Saamy (2003), Anniyan (2005), Raavanan (2010), Deiva Thirumagal (2011) Iru Mugan (2017), and Ponniyin Selvan among others. But do you know what inspired him to work hard and become a successful actor?
Vikram fulfilled his father’s wish
Vikram's father was a small-time actor who only managed supporting roles in Tamil films and television serials. As per reports, he had run away from home to achieve his dreams. This inspired Vikram to take theatre lessons and become professionally trained to become a leading actor.
In a throwback interview, the actor talked about his father and said, “ He ran away from home because he wanted to act. He would come to studios, but would not be able to get in. He was quite a smart-looking dude and looked a little like an English actor”.
When Vikram survived a tragic accident
When Vikram was just 12 years old, he had a deadly motorbike accident. The incident was so bad that at one point, there was just a 2% chance that his right leg would be saved. For the next three years, Vikram underwent 23 surgeries to save his legs. Before recuperating fully, he spent three years in a wheelchair and another year using crutches.
As per a report in News18, when he was asked what motivated him during the difficult times, he said, “I just wanted to be an actor; that’s what kept me going.”
Vikram opened up on his stage name
Vikram did not like his original name Kennedy and thus adopted a stage name. He felt that his original name was too English for a Tamil actor. In a throwback interview, he said that he was inspired to take the name because it was a mixture of several names dear to him that is ‘Vi’ from his father's name, ‘K’ from Kennedy, ‘Ra’ from his mother's name and ‘ram’ from his sun sign, Aries.
Meanwhile, Vikram is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film Thangalaan. The historical action-drama will be released theatrically on August 15, this year. Thangalaan will be available in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam.
Are you excited to watch him create pure magic on the silver screen again? Tell us in the comments.
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