Career

Early career (1992–2002)

During his childhood, Vijay performed in uncredited roles in films produced by his father. At the age of 18, Vijay debuted as a lead actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu, produced by his father. In his next flimSendhoorapandi, he co-starred with Vijayakanth. His following films Rasigan and Deva were of modest budgets. In his fifth film Rajavin Parvaiyile in 1993, he co-starred with another currently leading actor Ajith Kumar, who played supporting role in that film. He further went on to act in the romantic comedy Vishnu and romantic tragedy Chandralekha during the mid 1990's. In early 1996, he starred in Coimbatore Mappillai a romantic comedy film. His next flim was the Vikraman-directed Poove Unakkaga which made Vijay a recognizable star. Vijay's tenth film Vasantha Vasal was followed by the action flicks Maanbumigu Maanavan and Selva. In 1997 he continued to star in romantic films, like Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen and Love Today. In his next film, the romantic comedy Once More, Vijay co-starred with the legendary Tamil film actor Sivaji Ganesan. In his next film, the Mani Ratnam-produced Nerukku Ner, directed by Vasanth, he co-starred with another currently leading actor Suriya who made his debut in that film. He wrapped up that year with his first commercial success, the romantic drama Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, which was directed by Fazil and earned him a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. In 1998, Vijay worked in Ninaithen Vandhai, Priyamudan, and Nilaave Vaa. This was followed by the films Thulladha Manamum Thullum, Endrendrum Kadhal, Nenjinile and Minsara Kanna.
At the start of the new millennium he did Kannukkul Nilavu with Fazil. By this time, Vijay decided to commit to entertaining and commercial ventures, which marked a change in his trend. His next venture Kushi, a romantic comedy, was directed by S. J. Suryah and became a box office hit. At the end of the year, he acted in a romantic drama, Priyamanavale, which was also a box office hit. His 2001 romantic comedy film Friends was directed by Siddique and featured him in the leading role alongside Suriya again. Badri an action–drama film which was the remake of the Tollywood film Thammudu and Shahjahan, a romantic drama, followed, both of which were successful at the box office. In 2002, he starred in Thamizhan alongside Priyanka Chopra who made her acting debut in that film before her establishment as the leading Bollywood actress. The romantic drama Youth and action drama Bagavathi rounded off the year.

Commercial stardom (2003–2006)

Vijay began 2003 with the films Vaseegara and Pudhiya Geethai, both decent hits at the box office.
In late 2003, Vijay transformed from a romantic hero to a mass action hero, with the action-romance flick, Thirumalai, which featured him in a new look and was a box office hit. Thirumalai was a turning point in Vijay's career. His new commercial mass acting style and punch dialogue delivery coupled with his comic timing endeared him to all types of audiences and he soon acheived a numero uno status in Kollywood. Udhaya, a film which began filming in 2002 but became delayed, finally released at the start of 2004. Ghilli, released next in 2004, became Vijay's biggest blockbuster at the time. Directed by S. Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam, it is the remake of the Tollywood film Okkadu, and ran for 200 days in theatres in Tamil Nadu. It was followed by Madhurey, another blockbuster. In 2005, he starred in the Perarasu-directed action film Thirupaachi which again became a Blockbuster, the romantic comedy Sachien became a decent hit, and the commercial film Sivakasi, which was directed again by Perarasu and became a box office blockbuster. His next film Aadhi, was released in 2006, and was not well received despite its huge expectations.

Career instability (2007–2010)

In early 2007, Vijay starred in the gangster film Pokkiri, the remake of the Tollywood film of the same name. Directed by Prabhu Deva, it became a box office blockbuster and the 3^rd highest grossing Tamil film of 2007. Vijay's character in the film, a reprisal of Mahesh Babu's role in the original, was well praised by critics. In late 2007, Vijay starred in the extrasensory perception thriller film Azhagiya Thamizh Magan, and for the first time in his career, he appeared in dual roles as both the antagonist and protagonist, and was a box office failure, despite the initial hype and expectations. In 2008, he starred in the action film Kuruvi, again under Dharani's direction, which also failed at the box office.
The year 2009 started off with the action masala film Villu, which was directed by Prabhu Deva who was keen on working with him again after Pokkiri. The film featured Vijay in dual roles for the second time in his career and again failed to meet the expectations at the box office. Vijay's next film was the action masala film Vettaikaaran which was directed by Babu Sivan, produced by AVM Productions and distributed by Sun Pictures. Vettaikaaran was a box office hit and was Vijay's first success since Pokkiri. In 2010, he acted in his 50^th film, Sura also distributed by Sun Pictures. Sura released admist huge fanfare and expectations, but was a box office disaster. Vijay was forced to give a compensation of 6 crore (US$1.09 million) to the theatre owners who had suffered losses due to the screening of the film.
Since most of his films during this period did not do well at the box office, Vijay's status as a leading star was questioned by critics. In late 2010 Vijay even fell out with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which was virtually controlling the film industry at the time, following which he aligned with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and featured in its success in the 2011 assembly election.

Resurgence (2011–present)

In the start of 2011 he associated with director Siddique again, for the romantic comedy Kaavalan, the Tamil remake of the Malayalam film Bodyguard. It received a positive response from both viewers and critics and was deemed to be a box office hit, in spite of the ruling DMK stalling its release in many theatres which forced Vijay to shell out his salary and spend an extra 4 crore (US$724,000) for the release of the film.During Diwali the same year, his next film, the action film Velayudham directed by M. Raja and produced by Venu Ravichandran released and was a box office blockbuster.Velayudham became one of the top grossing films of 2011.
His next release was Nanban, the Tamil remake of the Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots, where he essayed the role played by Aamir Khan in the original. Directed by acclaimed director S. Shankar, it released during the Pongal weekend of 2012 and was a box office blockbuster. Vijay's performance in the film was praised by critics, including leading Indian actor Kamal Haasan.Nanban went on to complete its 100^th day theatrical run. Nanban is the biggest hit for Vijay till date.
Currently, Vijay is working on an action-adventure titled Thuppakki directed by A. R. Murugadoss. The film is in production stage and is slated for a Diwali release.He made a friendly appearance in the Bollywood film Rowdy Rathore starring Akshay kumar, directed by Prabhu Deva.
He has signed to star in Thalaivan with director A.L Vijay, which he is going to start after Thuppakki.

As Singer

Vijay is also a playback singer, his first song was "Thottapetta Roatmela" from Vishnu. He sang songs in most of the films he acted. He also sang "Naa Dhum Adhikkura" for another actor Surya for the film Periyanna. "Vaadi Vaadi" from the film Sachein was the last song he sang. As a singer he sang under Harris Jayaraj's composition for his film Thuppakki.