Vikram filmography

Vikram filmography
Photograph of Vikram
Vikram in 2019
Film60
Television series2
Television show12
Music videos4
Advertising6

Vikram is an Indian actor, playback singer and former dubbing artiste known for his work in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil, he has also worked in Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi language films. He has featured in over 55 motion pictures, three television programs, and several music videos and commercials.[1][2]

An aspiring actor since childhood, Vikram modelled for television commercials and appeared in a short film, hoping to get noticed by casting directors.[2][3] He made his television debut with the Doordarshan series Galatta Kudumbam (1988), following which his first feature film role came with the experimental film En Kadhal Kanmani (1990).[4] His early career in Tamil cinema saw consecutive box-office failures, after which he attempted a transition to Telugu and Malayalam cinema.[5] Vikram mostly played the lead roles in Telugu films, many of which were financial failures.[2][6] In Malayalam films, he usually appeared in ensemble films, playing "second fiddle" to established actors like Mammootty and Suresh Gopi, which failed to help his career.[5][7] Meanwhile, the few sporadic appearances he made in Tamil cinema also proved unsuccessful.[4]

Vikram landed his breakthrough role of a college student who suffers a brain injury in filmmaker Bala's directorial debut, the tragedy film Sethu (1999).[5] It was a sleeper hit and earned Vikram a Special Jury award at the Filmfare and Tamil Nadu State Film Award ceremonies.[8][9][10] In 2001, he played an aspiring policeman in the action film Dhill, the directorial debut of Dharani.[11] In 2002, Vikram was awarded his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for portraying a blind village singer in the Vinayan-directed tragedy Kasi (2001), a remake of the director's Malayalam film Vasanthiyum Lakshmiyum Pinne Njaanum (1999).[5][12][13] Vikram went on to play the quintessential Tamil action hero in a series of commercial successful masala films beginning with Gemini (2002) which grossed ₹210 million at the box office. Gemini film was the highest grossing Tamil film of the year 2002.[14] The next year, with consecutive commercial success in Dhool (2003) and Saamy (2003), he attained stardom.[15][16][17] He then played an undertaker with autism in Bala's tragedy drama Pithamagan (2003) co-starring Suriya. His portrayal attracted positive reviews and garnered him his third Filmfare award, and Best Actor trophies at the Tamil Nadu State Film Award and National Film Award ceremonies.[5][18][19][20]

Vikram underwent a professional setback between 2004 and 2008 when a series of films—Arul (2004), Majaa (2005) and Bheemaa (2008)—received mixed reviews and were commercial failures.[16][21][22][23] Vikram's sole box-office success during this period was S. Shankar's psychological thriller Anniyan (2005), in which he played a utopian lawyer suffering from multiple personality disorder. The film was the second highest grossing Tamil film of the year 2005 by collecting ₹57 crore from the box office.[24] The film was commercial success in all the South Indian states- Tamil Nadu, Kerala (where the film was the highest grossing Tamil film in Kerala at that time which ran over 150 days in theatres),[25] Andhra Pradesh (where the dubbed version Aparichitudu was highest-grossing film of 2005)[26][27] and Karnataka. The film also earned him critical acclaim and his fourth Filmfare award.[5][28][29] Meanwhile, Vikram ventured into film production by joining a production company, Reel Life Entertainment, as one of its directors.[30] In Susi Ganesan's Kanthaswamy (2009), he played a CBI officer who moonlights as a superhero.[31][32] In 2010, Vikram was introduced in Bollywood by Mani Ratnam through his Hindi-Tamil bilingual Raavan and Raavanan, a contemporary retelling of the Ramayana, in which Vikram played the antagonist and protagonist in the respective versions.[33] Vikram earned mixed reviews for his characterisation in the former;[34][35][36] but his performance in the latter earned him rave reviews and his fifth Filmfare award.[37][38][39] In 2011, Vikram played a man with developmental disability fighting over his daughter's custody in A. L. Vijay's courtroom drama Deiva Thirumagal, an adaptation of the American film I Am Sam (2001). Vikram's performance was praised and won him the Critics Award for Best Actor at Filmfare.[40][41][42] However, his next role of an aspiring screen villain in Rajapattai (2011) was poorly received.[5][43][44]

In 2012, Vikram appeared in A. L. Vijay's revenge-thriller Thaandavam, playing a blind RAW agent who uses human echolocation to track down his betrayer.[45] In Bejoy Nambiar's three-story-arc Hindi-language anthology film David (2013), he played one of the three eponymous lead characters, an alcoholic fisherman in love with his friend's fiancée.[46][47][48] Shankar's romantic-thriller I (2015) featured Vikram as a supermodel-turned-hunchback who exacts revenge on his conspirators. The film grossed over ₹ 2.4 billion at the box office and Vikram's performance was critically acclaimed.[49][50][51] Then he acted in 10 Endrathukulla (2015), Iru Mugan (2016), Sketch (2018), Saamy Square (2018), Kadaram Kondan (2019) and Mahaan (2022).

  1. ^ Aswathy, K (8 January 2015). "Here Comes 'I'". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.Vijay Singh Senava Gujarat
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  3. ^ Dua, Aarti (23 May 2010). "A double game". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Caravan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Cite error: The named reference Difference was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Twice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Mollywood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hit matters was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Nuvvu Nenu wins 4 Filmfare awards". The Times of India. 6 April 2002. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rajnikant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Glorious was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference PE was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Selva, T (10 January 2005). "Vikram's star rises". The Star. Archived from the original on 5 September 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  14. ^ Sudhish Kamath (11 October 2003). "Kollywood crackers". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014.
  15. ^ Kamath, Sudhish (1 February 2003). "The 'Dhool' matinee idol". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  16. ^ a b Kamath, Sudhish (16 November 2005). "The dilemma: actor or superhero?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  17. ^ Pillai, Sreedhar (29 December 2003). "Reel of fortune". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference fareFilm was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Godfather was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference Victor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ "Looking Ahead-Part 2". Sify. 1 January 2006. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  22. ^ Narasimham, M. L. (28 June 2004). "All hopes on 'Anniyan'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  23. ^ "Bheema's Telugu release on hold". The Times of India. 25 January 2008. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  24. ^ Roy, Amit (9 June 2006). "India booming". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  25. ^ "Vikram conquers Kerala!". Sify. 23 March 2006. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  26. ^ Sreedhar Pillai (5 November 2005). "Dubbed films, a hit". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  27. ^ Sreedhar Pillai (22 December 2005). "A milestone film". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
  28. ^ Roy, Amit (9 June 2006). "India booming". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 June 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sweep was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ Nair, Unni R. (11 December 2009). "Vikram turns producer". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  31. ^ "Chicken superheroes save the world". Twitch Film. 13 November 2009. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  32. ^ "The rooster rocks the box office". The Hindu. 2 September 2009. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  33. ^ Ramachandran, Mythily (25 June 2010). "Versatility unparalleled". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  34. ^ Adarsh, Taran (18 June 2010). "Film Review: Raavan". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  35. ^ Masand, Rajeev (19 June 2010). "'Raavan' is a bore of a film". CNN IBN. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  36. ^ Sen, Raja (18 June 2010). "Raavan is unforgivably boring". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference Masterstroke was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  38. ^ Chaitanya, Raghu (25 June 2010). "Film Review: Villain — Vikram is superb in 'Villain'". CNN-News18. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference Glam was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ Srinivasan, Meera (19 August 2011). "Just inspired or copied?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  41. ^ Narayanan, Venkateswaran (17 July 2011). "Movie Review: Deiva Thirumagal". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  42. ^ Francis, Christina (8 July 2012). "2011 Filmfare awards winners list". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  43. ^ Srinivasan, Pavithra (23 December 2011). "Review: Rajapattai is bland". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
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  45. ^ Manigandan, K. R. (17 September 2012). "Global vision". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  46. ^ Sankar, Gayatri (31 January 2013). "'David' review: Bejoy Nambiar dares to be different". Zee News. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  47. ^ Verma, Sukanya (1 February 2013). "David is well-acted but underwhelming". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  48. ^ Francis, Sneha May (4 February 2013). "Movie Review: Vikram gives 'David' a menacing twist". Emirates 24/7. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  49. ^ "'I' – Vikram takes 'Beauty and The Beast' to another level". Business Standard. IANS. 17 January 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
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