Vijay was born on 22 June 1974[1] as Joseph Vijay in Madras (now Chennai). He is a Roman Catholic, receiving his first Holy Communion at a church in Chennai.[10] His father S. A. Chandrasekhar is a Tamil film director and his mother Shoba is a playback singer and carnatic vocalist. He had a sister Vidhya, who died when she was two years old. His sisters death affected Vijay greatly; according to his mother, Vijay, who was very talkative, naughty and hyperactive as a child, became silent after Vidhya's death.[11] Vidhya's story is depicted in the 2005 film Sukran, in which Vijay played an extended cameo.[12][better source needed]

Vijay spent his entire childhood in Chennai. Initially attending Fathima Matriculation Higher Secondary School[13] at Kodambakkam, he later joined Balalok Matriculation Higher Secondary School[14] at Virugambakkam and went on to pursue a degree in Visual Communications from Loyola College. He eventually dropped out as he was more interested in acting.[11]

Vijay married a fan of his,[15] Sangeetha Sornalingam,[16] a Hindu Sri Lankan Tamil whom he met in the United Kingdom, on 25 August 1999.[17] They have two children, a son Jason Sanjay born in 2000 in London[18] and a daughter Divya Shasha born in 2005 in Chennai.[19] Jason Sanjay made a cameo appearance with his father in Vettaikaaran (2009) and Divya Shasha portrayed a small role as her father's pre-teen daughter in Theri (2016).

Film career
1984–1988
At the age of ten, Vijay started his film career as a child actor in the film Vetri (1984) and then performed as child actor in films such as Kudumbam (1984), Vasantha Raagam (1986), Sattam Oru Vilayaattu (1987) and Ithu Engal Neethi (1988). He also performed as child actor in Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985) co-starring Rajinikanth as lead actor.

1992–1996
After performing as a child artist in the films directed by his father, Vijay started featuring in lead roles at the age of eighteen from Naalaiya Theerpu (1992).[20] Vijay appeared alongside Vijayakanth in Sendhoorapandi (1993), which performed well only to a certain extent at the box office.[21] In 1994, his film Rasigan was released, which can be deemed as his first success but not acclaimed by critics.[22] This was the first film in which Vijay was credited with the prefix Ilaya Thalapathy (young commander), an epithet by which he became popularly known among fans and the media for the rest of his career.[23] He had lead roles in films such as Deva and Rajavin Parvaiyile, wherein the latter he co-starred with actor Ajith Kumar. He then acted in the romantic comedy Vishnu and the romantic tragedy Chandralekha. In early 1995, he starred in Coimbatore Mappillai a romantic comedy film.


It was followed by Madhurey, directed by Ramana Madhesh. In 2005, he starred in the Perarasu-directed action film Thirupaachi, followed by a guest appearance in Sukran, the romantic comedy Sachien, co-starring Genelia D'Souza, directed by John Mahendran, and Sivakasi, starring Asin, again directed by Perarasu. Vijay's next film Aathi, was produced by his father S. A. Chandrasekhar and directed by Ramana, and was released in 2006. In early 2007, Vijay starred in the gangster film Pokkiri, a remake of the Telugu film of the same name. Directed by Prabhu Deva, it became the third highest grossing Tamil film of 2007. Pokkiri is the first Tamil film of all-time to complete a 100-day theatrical run in Kerala.[28] The film received critical acclaim.[29]

In late 2007, Vijay starred in the psychological thriller film Azhagiya Tamil Magan, directed by Bharathan, in which he played a dual role for the first time in his career. He played the roles of both the antagonist and protagonist. The film was only a moderate success at the box office. Vijay was honoured with people's choice Superstar award in 2008 Vijay TV awards ceremony.[30] In 2008, he starred in the action comedy film Kuruvi, again under Dharani's direction, and produced by Red Giant Movies. The year 2009 commenced with the action film Villu, in which Vijay teamed up with Prabhu Deva. His next film Vettaikaaran, directed by Babusivan and produced by AVM Productions and distributed by Sun Pictures became one of the highest grossing Tamil film of 2009. In 2010, he acted in action comedy film Sura, also distributed by Sun Pictures