Vijay was born on 22 June 1974 as Joseph Vijay in Madras (now Chennai). His father S. A. Chandrasekhar is a Tamil film Director and his mother Shoba is a playback singer and carnatic vocalist. He had a sister Vidhya, who died when she was two years old. Vidhya's death affected Vijay very much. It has been said by his mother that Vijay, who was very talkative, naughty and hyperactive as a child, became silent after Vidhya's death. His sibling Vidhya's story is depicted in the 2005 film Sukran, where Vijay played an extended cameo.
At the age of ten, Vijay started his film career as a child actor in the film Vetri (1984) and then performed as child actor in films such as Kudumbam (1984), Vasantha Raagam (1986), Sattam Oru Vilayaattu (1987) and Ithu Engal Neethi (1988). He also performed as child actor in Naan Sigappu Manithan (1985 film) co-starring Rajinikanth as lead actor.
After appearing as child Artist in the films directed by his father, Vijay made his acting debut as lead actor under the age of eighteen with Naalaiya Theerpu (1992). Vijay appeared alongside Vijayakanth in Sendhoorapandi (1993), which did well at the box office. In 1994, he appeared in Rasigan, which also did well at the box office. This was the first film in which Vijay was credited with the prefix illaya Thalapathy (young commander), an epithet by which he became popularly known among fans and the media for the rest of his career. He had lead roles in films such as Deva and Rajavin Parvaiyile, where in the latter he co-starred with actor Ajith Kumar. He then acted in the romantic comedy Vishnu and the romantic tragedy Chandralekha. In early 1995, he starred in Coimbatore Mappillai a romantic comedy film.
In 1996, Vijay performed in the Vikraman-directed Poove Unakkaga, which became his first successful venture as well as the breakthrough in Vijay's career and made him a recognizable star. Vijay's tenth film Vasantha Vasal was followed by the action films Maanbumigu Maanavan and Selva and the romantic film Kaalamellam Kaathiruppen. In 1997, Vijay acted in Love Today and Once More, where he co-starred with the Tamil film actor Sivaji Ganesan and Actress Simran, and in the Mani Ratnam-produced movie Nerukku Ner, directed by Vasanth. Kadhalukku Mariyadhai, directed by Fazil, earned Vijay a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. In 1998, Vijay worked in the movies Ninaithen Vandhai, Priyamudan and Nilaave Vaa. In 1999, Vijay acted in Thulladha Manamum Thullum, with Simran, which earned Vijay a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film. This was followed by Endrendrum Kadhal, Nenjinile and the K.S.Ravikumar-directed Minsara Kanna.
Vijay married his ardent fan, a Hindu British Sri Lankan Tamil, Sangeetha Sornalingam, on 25 August 1999 in both Hindu and Christian tradition. They have two children, a son Jason Sanjay born in 2000 in London and a daughter Divya Shasha born in 2005 in Chennai. Jason Sanjay made a cameo appearance with his father in Vettaikaaran (2009) and Divya Shasha portrayed a small role as her father's pre-teen daughter in Theri (2016).
From the start of the new millennium, Vijay began to commit to entertaining ventures, which marked a change in trend. In 2000, he performed in Kannukkul Nilavu, and two romantic movies Kushi and Priyamanavale. His 2001 comedy-drama film Friends was directed by Siddique and featured him in the leading role alongside Suriya. Vijay also performed in Badri, an action film remake of the Telugu film Thammudu, and the romantic movie Shahjahan. In 2002, he starred in the action film Thamizhan alongside Priyanka Chopra, making her acting debut before establishing herself as a leading Bollywood Actress. Later, he featured in the romantic film Youth and the action film Bagavathi. Vijay began 2003 with the films Vaseegara and Pudhiya Geethai.
In 2002, Vijay appeared in Coca-Cola advertisements. He has appeared in a Sunfeast advertisement in 2005. In 2008, Vijay was signed up as an ambassador for the Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings. In January 2009, Vijay appeared in a Coca-Cola advertisement. In August 2010, Vijay was signed by Jos Alukkas as their brand ambassador for Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Vijay also appeared in a Tata Docomo advertisement.
In late 2003, Vijay starred in the action-romance flick Thirumalai, co-starring Jyothika, directed by debutant Ramana and produced by K. Balachander's Kavithalaya Productions, which featured him in a different way. Thirumalai was considered a turning point in Vijay's career. Udhaya, which began filming in 2002, but was delayed, was finally released in early 2004. Ghilli, a remake of the Telugu film Okkadu was released next in 2004, and completed 200 days in theatres in Tamil Nadu. Directed by S. Dharani and produced by A. M. Rathnam, it co-starred Trisha and Prakash Raj. Ghilli is the first Tamil film of all time to gross over ₹50 crore in the domestic box office.
It was followed by Madhurey, directed by Ramana Madhesh. In 2005, he starred in the Perarasu-directed action film Thirupaachi, followed by a guest appearance in Sukran, the romantic comedy Sachien, co-starring Genelia D'Souza, directed by John Mahendran, and Sivakasi, starring Asin, again directed by Perarasu. Vijay's next film Aadhi, was produced by his father S. A. Chandrasekhar and directed by Ramana, and was released in 2006. In early 2007, Vijay starred in the gangster film Pokkiri, a remake of the Telugu film of the same name. Directed by Prabhu Deva, it became the third highest grossing Tamil film of 2007. Vijay's character in the film, a reprisal of Mahesh Babu's role in the original, was well received by critics.
Vijay received an honorary doctorate from the M.G.R Educational and Research Institute (Dr. M.G.R University) in 2007 for his contributions to the cause of the poor and downtrodden through social welfare activities and to honour Vijay's achievement in the film industry.
Vijay started a social welfare organisation Vijay Makkal Iyakkam (Vijay People Organization), which was officially launched at Pudukottai on 26 July 2009. It is responsible for much of his philanthropic work. After Cyclone Thane, his Makkal Mandram administrators arranged for a relief camp at Kammiyampettai, Cuddalore where the star provided rice to the affected people. Cuddalore was the worst affected area in flooding and Vijay reached out to help these people by rendering some assistance. The area in which the camp was built soon wore a festive look with thousands of people gathering to catch a glimpse of their favorite star. In May 2008, Vijay appeared in a short public Service video, Herova? Zerova?, in an effort to discourage children from dropping out of school. Vijay Educational Awards 2012 was conducted at JS Kalyana Mandapam in Chennai on 8 July 2012 by his Vijay Makkal Iyakkam organisation to honour the students who topped in 2012 SSLC and 12th board exams and the awards were distributed by Vijay. On his birthday, 22 June 2007 Vijay presented golden rings to the newborn babies at the Egmore Government General Hospital. In November 2014, Vijay helped a daughter of a tea stall owner named Fathima who secured good marks in twelfth by getting her admission in a private college in Kodambakkam. In September 2017, Vijay Makkal Iyakkam official website was launched along with an Android App version by his fan clubs district heads to unite all of Vijay's fans across the globe. In 26 December 2017, Vijay fans in Pollachi have started providing vital services to the needy for free such as autos for school students and ambulances for the sick and injured.
In early 2011, Vijay joined up with Director Siddique again, for the romantic comedy Kaavalan, a Tamil remake of the Malayalam film Bodyguard. It received positive responses from both viewers and critics and was a box office hit. Kaavalan was screened at the Shanghai International Film Festival in China. During Diwali the same year, his next film, the action film Velayudham, directed by M. Raja and produced by Venu Ravichandran was released. Velayudham became one of the top-grossing films of 2011.
Vijay has been included several times in the Indian edition of the Forbes Celebrity 100 list, based on the earnings of Indian celebrities. In 2012, he was ranked #28, in 2013, he was ranked #49, in 2014, he held the #41 slot, in 2016, he held the #61 slot, and in 2017, he was ranked #31. In 2017, a third standard Central Board of Secondary Education textbook has displayed Vijay's image with veshti and shirt in reference to the traditional attire worn by Tamil men during Pongal festival in south India.
Vijay's next film, the action thriller Thuppakki, directed by A. R. Murugadoss and produced by S. Dhanu, was released on Diwali 2012 to mostly positive reviews. The film became the third Tamil film to enter the ₹1 billion (US$15 million) club after Sivaji (2007) and Enthiran (2010). Thuppakki became highest-grossing film of Vijay's career, and the first of his films to gross over ₹180 crore. His next film Thalaivaa, directed by A. L. Vijay, was released on 9 August 2013 worldwide and had a delayed release in Tamil Nadu. His next film Jilla, co-starring Kajal Aggarwal and Mohanlal, and directed by R. T. Neason, was released on a Pongal weekend in 2014 and ended up as a box office hit.
Vijay again worked with AR Murugadoss in the action thriller Kaththi, co-starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Neil Nitin Mukesh and produced by Ayngaran International, which was released on Diwali 2014 to mostly positive reviews. It was the highest grossing Tamil film of 2014. In 2015, the fairy tale fantasy film Puli was released. His next film, the action-thriller Theri, directed by Atlee, co-starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Amy Jackson and Produced by S. Dhanu, was released in April 2016 to positive reviews. Theri is the highest-grossing film of 2016 and his second film to gross over ₹172 crore.
His next, the masala film Bairavaa, directed by Bharathan, co-starring Keerthi Suresh and produced by Vijaya Productions was released in January 2017. His next film, the action-thriller Mersal, directed by Atlee, co-starring Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kajal Aggarwal and Nithya Menen and produced by Sri Thenandal Films was released in late 2017. Mersal became the highest-grossing film of Vijay's career, and the first of his films to gross over ₹250 crore. Vijay for his role in the Mersal film was nominated at the National Film Awards UK in 2018. His next movie, currently referred to as Vijay 62 is set to be directed by A R Murugadoss and produced by Sun Pictures.
