Vikram birthday special: The actor’s 5 most memorable films

Kollywood has many big stars with a huge fan base, but it is rare that an actor is universally admired by fans and has next to no critics. One such actor is Vikram, who is fondly called as Chiyaan Vikram by his fans. The veteran actor, who has completed more than twenty-five years in the film industry, is celebrating his 51st birthday today. So as a tribute to the great actor, here are five of his best films which made him the adored-star that he is today.

Vikram spent a good ten years of his career looking for that one big break as he delivered a string of flops. That big break came in the form of director Bala’s ‘Sethu’ in the year 1999. In this tragic romantic drama, Vikram showed his chops for acting as he first played the role of a college ruffian and later, the role of a brain damaged patient who ends up in an ashram. The actor was able to bring about his character’s transformation very convincingly on screen. The film became a critical success and was later remade in Bollywood as ‘Tere Naam’ starring Salman Khan. ‘Sethu’ also won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

Be it a content driven film or a commercial entertainer, Vikram is one actor who always delivers, as was the case with ‘Saamy’. In this action-entertainer, the actor took on the shoes of Aarusaamy, a Deputy Commissioner of Police who is a crooked man himself. He isn’t afraid to get corrupt and get his hands dirty in order to wipe out crime from his city. His role of a not-so-straight-forward cop became the highlight of the film and earned him many accolades.

Vikram often delivered his best when he did films with director Bala. This film too saw him embrace an entirely new character which was unheard of in Tamil cinema. He played Chithan, an orphaned boy who is raised in a graveyard. Thanks to no human contact, he grows up as feral and subhuman with no understanding of human relations. However, he eventually finds friends and love which slowly turns him into a civilized man. Vikram’s transformation in ‘Pithamagan’ is beautiful to say the least and no other actor could have pulled it off like he did.

This film addressed the concept of rarely-discussed multiple personality disorders in Kollywood. Vikram played the role of Ambi, a straightforward lawyer, who develops two alternate personalities, Remo - a ladies’ man, and Anniyan - a vigilante serial killer. Playing three radically different characters who is actually the same person is no easy feat, but the effortlessness Vikram showed on-screen proved how far he had come as an actor. ‘Anniyan’ is perhaps the biggest hit in the veteran actor’s career and his fans still rave about the film a full ten years after its release.

‘I’ was a commercial-thriller that lacked the punch in terms of the storyline. But that can be partly forgiven and forgotten thanks to Vikram’s memorable performance. He carried the entire film on his shoulders from the first frame to the last and thoroughly entertained all as Lingesan, a bodybuilder who turns into a model and is later turned into a diseased hunchback by his enemies. The hunchback then exacts his revenge on his enemies and wins back his lady love. This straightforward story would definitely not have worked so well if Vikram hadn’t enthralled everyone with his top-notch acting display.