Captain Prabhakar Dual Audio Hindi
Anna Pybus
He won two Filmfare Awards South and three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards.[6][7] For his role in Senthoora Poove, Vijayakanth won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor in 1988. In 1996, he was awarded the Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize for his role in Thayagam. He was also the recipient of two Cinema Express Awards and one Filmfare Awards South. Vijayakanth was one of very few Tamil lead actors to have acted only in Tamil films throughout his career. His films have mostly been dubbed into Telugu and Hindi.
He was known for his "open and bold stance" during his political career.[7] After founding the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) in 2005, he served as an MLA twice, representing the constituencies of Virudhachalam and Rishivandiyam respectively from 2006 to 2016. The DMDK saw early success as it won the second-most seats in the 2011 election and Vijayakanth became the leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, serving until 2016. He remained leader of the DMDK during his health decline and until his death in 2023. In January 2024, he was posthumously awarded India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, by the Government of India.[14][15]
His father was apparently worried about Vijayakanth as he showed less attention and less interest towards studies but was more interested in cinema.[20] Vijayakanth grew up idolising M. G. Ramachandran and he displayed his passion towards community and societal issues at a young age.[21] Vijayakanth then went to work in the rice mill owned by his father and surprised him with his administrative skills.[20]
Vijayakanth left Madurai to pursue his passion in acting, even though he did not have any cinematic background.[20] In 1978, Vijayakanth engaged in a photo shoot in Rasi Studios located at Madurai (now known as Rasi Digital Studios) with the aim of obtaining a film acting opportunity. The photos which he took at Rasi Studios helped him to garner attention from film industry and it became a turning point in his career.[24] Vijayakanth gave credit and acknowledgment to the chief photographer of Rasi Studios, R. Asaithambi, in a few magazine interviews, indicating that the photographs taken by Asaithambi eventually helped him earn a spot in the film industry.[25]
Vijayakanth was then cast in a supporting role as Rajnikanth's younger brother in En Kelvikku Enna Bathil (1978) by the director P. Madhavan; he received an advance of Indian Rupees 100 for the film.[26][21]
He lost several film opportunities during the early stages of his acting career, as many other filmmakers shunned him, largely due to his dark skin colour.[29][30] He faced further humiliation when many lead actresses, including Raadhika Sarathkumar, Saritha, Ambika and Radha, refused to act with him due to his dark complexion during this initial phase of his career.[31][32]
His 1980 film, Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam was screened at the Indian Panorama of the International Film Festival of India.[35] Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam gave Vijayakanth the limelight and fame as his performance in the film was lauded by viewers and it became a turning point in his illustrious career.[36]
In his formative years Vijayakanth acted in films carrying revolutionary and radical thoughts (including themes of communism and Marxism) such as Sivappu Malli (1981) and Jadhikkoru Needhi (1981).[34] In these films, he portrayed the angry young revolutionist characters.
However the film that launched him as a commercial hero was Sattam Oru Iruttarai (1981), directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar, with whom he collaborated in numerous films thereafter.[37] It was remade in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada languages.[38] It was only after his success in Sattam Oru Iruttarai, Vaidehi Kathirunthal, and Oomai Vizhigal that top actresses, Raadhika and Radha, decided to work with him.[32]
He then played a villain role in Om Shakti (1982), but after that never portrayed antagonist characters in his films.[39] Most of his films revolved around corruption, honesty and keeping promises.[40] He portrayed a police officer in more than 20 films.[41][5] He was also known for portraying a patriotic, village do-gooder and performing in dual roles in his films.
Slowly he rose to the top through commercial films featuring action, romance, comedy and sentimental themes, including Dowry Kalyanam (1983), Nooravathu Naal (1984) and Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal (1984).[37] He became the Tamil cinema actor to appear in the most films in a year in the lead role in 1984.[42][35] 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.[43] He co-starred with Kannada superstar actor Vishnuvardhan in Eetti (1985). The romantic comedy Naane Raja Naane Mandhiri (1985) was a commercial success.[44][45]
He followed that success with Oomai Vizhigal (1986), which became a cult classic and lauded as a film way ahead of its time.[47][48][49] It portrayed him in an unusual role of an aged cop and elevated him to an indisputable competitor of stalwarts Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan.[50]
In 1987, he co-starred with Sivaji Ganesan in Veerapandiyan, followed by successful movies as Cooliekkaran, Ninaive Oru Sangeetham, Sattam Oru Vilayaattu and Uzhavan Magan. Uzhavan Magan (1987) marked the first collaboration between Vijayakanth and his longtime friend Ibrahim Rowther who was a film producer. Ibrahim Rowther decided to lend a helping hand to his friend Vijayakanth by agreeing to produce Uzhavan Magan in order to promote Vijayakanth as a prominent actor in the film industry.[51] On 21 October 1987, Vijayakanth, as the lead actor, had two theatrical releases as both Uzhavan Magan and Sattam Oru Vilayaatu were released on the same day, and coincidentally, both films became blockbusters in the box office. It became one of the rare occasions for any main lead male actor to have two high-profile releases on the same day in theatres.[52]
He received the adjective/title "Puratchi Kalaigner" for his performance in Cooliekkaran (1987) bestowed upon him by the film's producer Kalaipuli S. Thanu.[53] In 1988, he worked in films such as Therkathi Kallan, Nallavan and Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran.[54] In Senthoora Poove, Vijayakanth won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.[9][55] In 1989, he also starred in two other super hit films such as Paattukku Oru Thalaivan and Ponmana Selvan.[56] This followed the crime thriller Rajanadai and the Hindu devotional film Meenakshi Thiruvilayadal.[57]
Starting in the 1990s, Vijayakanth established himself as an action icon with a consistent box-office appeal. He was best known for low-budget films that showcased gravity-defying stunts in which he would single-handedly dispatch his enemies.[58]
Throughout the 1990s, Vijayakanth also excelled in roles in a variety of films in various genres, though he remained more popular as an action hero in films such as Pulan Visaranai, which featured R. Sarathkumar portraying the antagonist.[63] Directed by R. K. Selvamani, this film was considered to be one of the best Tamil crime thrillers of its time.[64][65]
Vijayakanth starred in the superhit cop flick Sathriyan, produced by Mani Ratnam, about an honest cop and a corrupt politician.[38] 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.[66][67] He hit jackpot in his 100th film Captain Prabhakaran, which became one of the biggest blockbuster Tamil films for the year 1991, running for over 500 days in the theatres and it be.[62] It had its theatrical release with notable fanfare and it was a commercial success upon its release. Vijayakanth achieved the unique feat of scoring a blockbuster in his 100th film, a feat neither Kamal Haasan nor Rajinikanth achieved in their respective acting careers. After M.G.R, Sivaji Ganesan and Jayalalithaa, he was the only actor to have tasted a silver jubilee hit in his 100th film.[68][69] followed by Maanagara Kaaval (1991) and Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum (1991).
Vijayakanth appeared in the role of a village chief in the film Chinna Gounder (1992), which turned out to be an experimental film for Vijayakanth and a cult classic in the following years.[70][71][72] The song "Antha Vaanatha Pola Manam Padaicha Mannavaney" from Chinna Gounder, where Vijayakanth appears walking out of the village with disdain in a sad manner, became popular in rural areas of Tamil Nadu, and it eventually became a meme in the later years.[73]
For his performance in the action film Thayagam (1996), he won a Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize.[9] This was followed by Tamizh Selvan and Alexander.[77] In 1997, he appeared in the film Dharma Chakkaram which was directed by K. S. Ravikumar.[78]
In 2000s, Vijayakanth continued his success streak with such blockbuster 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.[81][38] This was followed by Vallarasu and Simmasanam.[82] His acting in Vallarasu received widespread attention, highlighting his mission to thwart the efforts of a Pakistani-based terrorist group being assisted by a local politician for his personal gain.[5]
After this year, he again played in action films such as Vaanchinathan (2001) directed by Shaji Kailas and Narasimha (2001). Narasimha failed to deliver at the box office, but the performances of Vijayakanth were praised for his action hero elements with gravity-defying unrealistic action sequences, and the film became a unique component in Tamil pop culture.[5][83][84] It was reported that Narasimha was a spiritual sequel to Vallarasu.[5] Then came Viswanathan Ramamoorthy (2001), in which he made a cameo appearance and then he acted in the village drama Thavasi (2001).[85][72] He then appeared in action film Raajjiyam (2002) but the film ultimately failed to deliver in the box office and it turned out to be a box office bomb.[86]
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