Vijay (born Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar on 22 June 1974) is an Indian actor, playback singer, brand ambassador and producer, who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry. Chandrasekhar, Vijay made his debut as a lead actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu, and has since then starred in numerous commercially successful and acclaimed films in various genres such as Poove Unakkaga (1996), Kadhal
ukku Mariyadhai (1997), Thulladha Manamum Thullum (1999), Kushi (2000), Priyamaanavale (2000), Friends (2001), Thirumalai (2003), Ghilli (2004), Thirupaachi (2005), Sivakasi (2005), Pokkiri (2007), Kaavalan (2011), Velayudham (2011), Nanban (2012) and Thuppakki (2012). To date, he has acted in 54 films as a lead actor. Vijay has been widely referred to as Ilayathalapathy ("Young Commander") since the early period of his career.[3] He has been awarded two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, nominated for one Filmfare Award and conferred honorary doctorate by MGR University for his extensive philanthropic works in 2007. He launched the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, a social welfare organisation in 2009. He is also involved in politics, aligning with the currently ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in the 2011 Tamil Nadu assembly election.[4]
As a brand ambassador he promotes various enterprises including Tata DoCoMo and Jos Alukkas, and is the former ambassador of Coca-Cola in India and Chennai Super Kings.[5]
