Team FC
From struggler to star
Vikram, born Kennedy “Kenny” John Victor, is not someone who has had victory handed to him on a platter. Born to Rajeshwari and Vinod Raj (a character actor who as a young man ran away from his hometown in Paramakudi to pursue his passion for acting)
Following a copywriting gig, a few ad films, and a six-episode television serial on Doordarshan, Vikram finally got the break for which he’d been waiting.
En Kadhal Kanmani (1990) revolved around a serial smoker who had to give up his vice in order to marry his girlfriend. The film was a box office dud, which was followed by a string of films that suffered the same fate. It would take another 10 years for Vikram to taste success with Sethu.
In the meantime, he stayed afloat by dubbing for many popular actors, including Prabhu Deva. “We did this interview with him in The Hindu long ago and at that time he said that if Sethu hadn't worked, he was willing to take up a job in an orchard somewhere in Australia,”
An Actor Prepares
Romantic or platonic, if Vikram’s brief on paper is heartbreak, the consequence is dire and heartrending. In one of his most immersive performances, Vikram plays Chitthan in Bala’s Pithamagan (2003)
That is, of course, until he meets Sakthi (Suriya), who breathes life into him with his unconditional generosity. Sakthi’s eventual death sets off a very human emotion in Chitthan, who finally learns the meaning of grief when he watches his dead friend burn at the cemetery. The role went on to fetch Vikram a National Film Award.
There’s a Hero in this Soup
There’s a sense of humility that Vikram brings to his roles which sets him apart from other Tamil movie soup boys, who frequently used bar songs to launch into a tirade against the women who have broken their hearts.
For Rao, the soup boy tag that Vikram carries isn’t a fair assessment. A soup boy is one who blames the woman for everything, which Vikram’s characters don’t, she pointed out. Instead, there’s angst in the men he plays.
Ponniyin Selvan also saw Vikram in a role that didn’t disguise his age. In the books, Aditya Karikalan is in his early 20s, but Mani Ratnam aged all the characters and Vikram brings to the warrior prince’s persona a world-weariness and simmering rage that only comes with advancing years.