Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar (born 22 June 1974), known mononymously as Vijay, is an Indian actor, dancer, playback singer and philanthropist who works in Tamil cinema. Referred to by fans and media as “Thalapathy” (commander), Vijay is the highest paid actor in Tamil cinema. By 2017, he became the second-highest grossing actor in Tamil cinema history, behind veteran Rajnikanth. Vijay has acted in 64 films as a lead actor and won numerous awards, including eight Vijay Awards, three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and a SIIMA Award. He has been included seven times in the Forbes India Celebrity 100 list, based on the earnings of Indian celebrities.

Vijay is among the most popular figures in South India. In 2008, he was signed as an ambassador for the Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings. In 2009, Coca-Cola India signed him as their brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu and he subsequently featured in advertisements for the company.

Let’s explore some interesting facts about Vijay.

1. Vijay is an ardent fan of ‘Thalaivaar.’ He has mentioned on many occasions that if it was not for Rajnikanth, he would have never made it to the world of cinema. In fact, he landed his first opportunity as a lead actor after an audition where he quoted a famous line from Rajnikanth’s hit film ‘Annamalai’.

2. Vijay is very fond of his sister, Vidhya Chandrasekhar, who passed away at the age of two. It changed him a lot as a person and he has done many philanthropic activities in her memory. Even his production house – VV Productions stands for Vidhya-Vijay Productions.

3. Vijay made a cameo appearance in Akshay Kumar’s ‘Rowdy Rathore’ that was directed by Prabhu Deva. Interestingly, it was Akshay Kumar who then remade his movie ‘Thuppakki’ as ‘Holiday’ in Hindi.

4. Except perhaps Allu Arjun, Vijay is the only Non-Malayali actor who enjoys immense fan following in the state of Kerala. His dubbed movies outperform many straight Malayalam movies.

5. Vijay has been awarded the Kalaimaamani – which is one of the highest honours in the field of art in Tamil Nadu which he received in just 6 years of entering the film industry. He was also honoured with a doctorate from the prestigious MGR University.

6. In his filmy career of 25 years and around 60 movies, Vijay introduced nearly 20 directors to the Tamil Film Industry.

7. During one of his visits to the US, Vijay got a chance to see Tom Cruise’s beach house. Being impressed with it, Vijay got a picture and replicated a similar beach house for himself in Neelankarai.

8. Vijay’s son’s name ‘Sanjay’ is derived from the first three letter of his wife, ‘Sangeetha’ and last three letters of his name, ‘Vijay’.