Aparichit Movie Hero Name

[Zulema Estabrooks]

KennedyJohn Victor (born 17 April 1966), better known by his stage name Vikram, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil films, he has also worked in a few Malayalam films. He is among the most decorated actors in Tamil cinema, with laurels including seven Filmfare Awards South, a National Film Award, four Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and the Kalaimamani Award from the Government of Tamil Nadu. Based on the earnings of Indian celebrities, Vikram was included in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list for 2016 and 2018.[3]

Vikram has promoted various social causes and appeared as the Youth Envoy for the United Nations Human Settlements Programme in 2011. He has been a brand ambassador of Sanjeevani Trust and a school for special children, Vidya Sudha, which he stayed at during the making of Deiva Thirumagal as well as having long-term associations with the Kasi Eye Care and running his own welfare association through the Vikram Foundation.[5] In 2016, he produced and directed the video to the flood relief anthem, Spirit of Chennai, as a tribute to the city's volunteers following the 2015 South Indian floods.

Vikram was born as Kennedy John Victor on 17 April 1966 to a Christian father and a Hindu mother.[6] His father, John Victor (alias Vinod Raj) was a native of Paramakudi and ran away from home to start a career in films, but worked only in minor roles. Vikram's mother, Rajeshwari, was a government officer who reached the rank of sub-collector. Rajeshwari was born in a Hindu family with film connections. Her brother, Thiagarajan, is an established director-actor in the Tamil film industry; he is the father of actor Prashanth, making him Vikram's first cousin (although the two have never openly acknowledged this relationship).[7] Vikram has two siblings, both younger to him. His brother, Arvind, appeared in the low-budget Tamil film, Eppo Kalyanam (2022).[8][9] His sister, Anitha, is a teacher.

Vikram's father, Vinod Raj, was a small time actor who did not fare successfully in films and only managed to act in supporting roles in Tamil films and television serials.[10] This inspired Vikram to take theatre lessons and become professionally trained in classical and cinema dance forms to ensure that he became a leading actor.[6][11] Vikram decided to use a screen name because he disliked his original name, Kennedy, and he also felt that such a foreign name was not a fit name for an actor in Tamil films. He took the name Vikram (a Hindu name) which means "man who does great deeds." In one interview, he said that he was also inspired to take the name because it was a mixture of several names dear to him: "Vi" from his father's name (Vinod), "K" from Kennedy, "Ra" from his mother's name (Rajeshwari) and "ram" from his sun sign, Aries.[12]

Vikram was educated at Montfort School, Yercaud (a boarding school in a hill station near Salem) and graduated in 1983.[10] He has mentioned that he used his opportunities at school well by taking part in karate, horseback riding and swimming and noted that such early exposure to activities gave him confidence as a youngster. Vikram lurked in the fringes of the school's theatre club for a long period and often took part in backstage work before being handed the lead role in a school adaptation of Molire's The Doctor in Spite of Himself after the original lead had contracted chicken pox.[12] Despite expressing his interest to join films after school, his father forced him to go through education and Vikram subsequently graduated from Loyola College, Chennai with a degree in English Literature and worked halfway towards an MBA programme.[13][10] Through the prolific dramatics club, Vikram appeared in stage productions including college adaptations of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial and Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, receiving best actor awards for his performances.[12] After winning a Best Actor Award at a function held at IIT Madras, Vikram was hit by a truck during a ride on his motorbike on the way home and suffered a serious leg injury. He remained hospital-ridden for three years during college and subsequently went through twenty-three surgeries to prevent his leg from being amputated.[13][14] Vikram then returned to finish the final year of his degree after his accident and secured permission to finish his dissertation at home, as he was only able to walk on crutches for a short period.[15]

Vikram began his professional career by modelling in advert films for brands including Chola Tea, TVS Excel and Alwyn watches as well as appearing in a six episode television serial titled Galatta Kudumbam, which aired between November and December 1988. During the final year of his M.B.A programme at Loyola College, he was recognised by the film industry, with veteran director C. V. Sridhar approaching him for a lead role in a film.[16] Vikram made his film debut in 1990 by appearing in En Kadhal Kanmani, a small-budget love story featuring him alongside Rekha Nambiar, with Sridhar's Thanthu Vitten Ennai, opposite Rohini being his next release. He then signed on to be a part of cinematographer P. C. Sriram's college love story Meera, with high expectations, however, the three films failed to launch his career.[17] His appearances in Meera and in Kaaval Geetham, with another veteran director S. P. Muthuraman, helped him secure film offers from the Malayalam and Telugu film industries.[16] In 1993, he almost signed on to appear in Mani Ratnam's Bombay and featured in the initial photo shoot alongside Manisha Koirala. However, Mani Ratnam wanted Vikram to remove his beard for the role, and Vikram could not do so due to continuity problems with another film he had signed and hence was dropped from the project.[18]

Between 1993 and 1994, Vikram played supporting roles in a series of films. He appeared in three successful Malayalam films by appearing with Mammootty, Suresh Gopi and Jayaram in Joshi's successful action film Dhruvam, before teaming up with Gopi again for Shaji Kailas's Mafia, which explored Bangalore's criminal underworld. Furthermore, Joshi cast him again alongside Mammootty in the action drama Sainyam in the role of an air cadet.[19] During the period, Vikram also appeared in the small budget Telugu film Chirunavvula Varamistava in the lead role and as Akkineni Nageswara Rao's eldest son in the family drama Bangaru Kutumbam, with both films failing to give him a breakthrough although the latter was a box office success.[20] A brief return to Tamil films also proved unsuccessful, with his role in Vikraman's multi-starrer Pudhiya Mannargal, with music composed by A. R. Rahman turning out to be a commercial failure.[21]

Throughout 1995 and 1996, Vikram appeared in further Telugu and Malayalam films to receive income, being kept away from Tamil films due to a lack of offers.[17] He played the lead role in the Malayalam film Mayoora Nritam directed by Vijayakrishnan's and even played villain in Street opposite Babu Antony and lead roles in the small budget Telugu films Adalla Majaka and Sriraj Ginne's Akka! Bagunnava?. He collaborated again with Mammootty in Indraprastham and Suresh Gopi in Rajaputhran, before appearing in his first lead role in Malayalam with Itha Oru Snehagatha opposite Laila.[19] Vikram signed Amitabh Bachchan's first Tamil language film production, Ullaasam, which also featured Ajith Kumar and Maheswari. The big budget film created anticipation prior to release, but was average run at the box office.[22] However, Vikram acknowledged the film for expanding his female fan base as a result of the soft-personality of his character.[17] He followed it up with appearances in the unnoticed Ilaiyaraaja musical Kangalin Vaarthaigal, before playing a short role in Parthiban's critically acclaimed film House Full.

During his struggling phase, Vikram dubbed for other heroes in films including voices for Prabhu Deva in Kaadhalan, Ajith Kumar in Amaravathi and Abbas in Kandukondain Kandukondain respectively. Vikram has mentioned that he did not look down on dubbing and saw it as a "dignity of labour".[14][23] During the period, he also attended dancing classes every day, and tried acting out different scenes and different characters with his small group of friends.[24] He began to turn down chances to play supporting roles in films and was intent on making a breakthrough as a lead actor and notably turned down the role of Swarnamalya's fiance in Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey.[12] Vikram also rejected approaches from television serial producers, citing that working in television would reduce his chances of becoming a mainstream actor.[25] He also refused opportunities to take part in film events as a backing dancer, with actor Sriman revealing that Vikram was "one amongst not many" who was not interested in travelling to Canada to participate in such shows.[12]

Vikram did not sign up to a film for 65 days after the release of Sethu, to ensure that he made the right career move.[13] Vikram spent time completing projects he had agreed to feature in before the release of Sethu and hence made a couple of appearances in the Malayalam films Red Indians and the horror film Indriyam.[31] He also played a leading role in Siragugal, a rare Tamil telefilm produced and featuring Radhika, which was shot entirely in the suburbs of London.[32][33] Furthermore, he also completed two Telugu films during the period; 9 Nelalu and Youth. 9 Nelalu featured Vikram as the husband of the character played by Soundarya, who faces the challenges of being a surrogate mother. The film won positive reviews, with a critic mentioning that Vikram gave a "controlled performance"[34] while Vikram's newfound popularity in Tamil films saw the film dubbed into Tamil soon after as Kandaen Seethaiyai, with an inserted comedy track by comedian Vivek.[35] His next release was Rajakumaran's Vinnukum Mannukum, alongside Sarath Kumar, Khushbu and Devayani, which revolved around an ordinary boy falling in love with an actress. Vikram has since mentioned his displeasure at being a part of the film, claiming that he had arguments with the director for every single shot and that "everything in that film, right from the first shot was wrong"; the film became a failure commercially.[36][37]

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