Vijay Kumar (Tamil Filmmaker) - Wikipedia

Indian actor, writer, director, lyricist and producer

Vijay Kumar
Born	Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	Government College of Engineering, Salem
Occupations	Film director Actor Screenwriter Film Producer
Years active	2013 - present

Vijay Kumar is an Indian actor, writer, director, lyricist and producer. His directorial debut, Uriyadi, a political thriller set in the 1990s, was released in 2016[1][2][3] and was lauded as one of the best political thrillers in Tamil cinema.[4][5] His second project Uriyadi 2 released in April 2019.

Early life

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Vijay was born in Chennai where he spent his schooling years.[6] He then studied Metallurgical Engineering at the Government College of Engineering, Salem.[citation needed] A software engineer by profession, he quit his career in reputed companies like IBM and Infosys to pursue his passion in cinema.[7]

Film career

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Vijay was a Project Lead in IBM when he quit his job to pursue his passion in filmmaking.[8] He made a short film and applied to the first season of the Nalaya Iyakunar show in 2009.[7][6] He was selected and subsequently screened two short films on the show. However, he left for personal reasons.[6]

He moved to the United States in 2010 and began writing the script for Uriyadi in early 2011. It was initially titled Vidiyum Varai VinmeengalaaVom (V4). He spent over a year on the script, sketching more than 2500 shots for its storyboard.[9]

Back in India, Vijay Kumar started his production house Souvenir Productions in April 2013.[citation needed] He conducted a three-month acting workshop for the actors as almost all of them were debutants.[9]

Uriyadi was released in theaters on 27 May 2016.[citation needed] Upon its release, The Hindu had a chat with Vijay and cited that Uriyadi is "A throwback to the 90s".[10] Uriyadi 2, produced by Suriya's 2D Entertainment, directed by and starring Vijay Kumar released on 5 April 2019.

Vijay Kumar's next film was Fight Club, a youth action-drama that went on floors on 16 July 2021. It stars Vijay Kumar and Monisha Menon in the lead and is produced by Reel Good Films.[11] The principal photography was completed on 3 July 2022.[12] Presented by Lokesh Kanagaraj's production company, G Squad,[13] the film released on 15 December 2023 to favorable reviews.[14]

Vijay Kumar will also play the lead in Reel Good Films second production, Election.[15] The film, directed by Thamizh, co-stars Preethi Asrani. It also features Pavel Navageethan, George Maryan and Dileepan, with music by Govind Vasantha. The principal photography wrapped up on 4 September 2022 and the film will release on 17 May 2024. Vijay Kumar has also written the dialogues of the film.[16]

Filmography

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Year	Film	Credited as					Role	Notes
		Writer	Director	Actor	Producer	Background Music
2016	Uriyadi	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Lenin Vijay	[17]
2019	Uriyadi 2	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Lenin Vijay	[18]
2020	Soorarai Pottru	Dialogues	N	N	N	N	—	[19]
2023	Fight Club	Dialogues	N	Y	Creative Producer	N	Selvaa	[20]
2024	Election	Dialogues	N	Y	Creative Producer	N	Nadarajan	[15]

Awards and nominations

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Year	Film	Award	Category	Notes	Ref
2016	Uriyadi	Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards	Best Debut Actor	Won	[21]
2017		SIIMA	Best Debut Actor	Nominated	[22]
		Tentkotta Awards	Most Watched film of a Debutant Filmmaker	Won	[23][better source needed]
		Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards	Best Production	Won	[24]
		Tamil Nadu Murpoku Ezhuthalar Kalaingargal Sangam Film Awards	Special Award for Production	Won	[25][26]
			Special Award for Writing and Direction	Won
		Radio Mirchi Madurai Awards	Best Director	Won	[27][better source needed]
		SIIMA	Best Debut Director	Nominated	[22]
		Filmibeat Tamil Cinema Award	Best Debut Director	Won	[28][better source needed]
		Behindwoods Gold Medals	Direction	Wall of Fame	[29]

References

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1. ^ Rangan, Baradwaj (28 May 2016). "Uriyadi review: A gritty little film by a solid filmmaker". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
2. ^ "Uriyadi Movie review". Times of India. 28 May 2016.
3. ^ "Uriyadi Review: An unmissable masterpiece that deserves our support!". Fullyfilmy.in. 30 May 2016. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
4. ^ "Uriyadi director Vijay Kumar spills the beans on his next". Hindustan Times. 8 March 2017.
5. ^ "Vijay Kumar stuns audience by his performance in Uriyadi". Awesome Machi. 31 July 2017.
6. ^ a b c "Uriyadi movie director and technicians interview". Ananda Vikatan. 15 June 2016.
7. ^ a b "Uriyadi director Vijay Kumar interview". Behindwoods. 2 June 2016.
8. ^ "Uriyadi director Vijay Kumar interview". Behindwoods. 2 June 2016.
9. ^ a b "More than 2000 shots created for story board". The Times of India. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
10. ^ "The Hindu Interview". The Hindu. 28 May 2016.
11. ^ "'Fight Club' will capture the life journey of youngsters: Abbas". The Times of India. 30 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
12. ^ "It's a wrap for Vijay Kumar's next". Cinema Express. 3 July 2022.
13. ^ "Vijay Kumar's next is 'Fight Club', presented by Lokesh Kanagaraj's G Squad banner". The Hindu. 29 November 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
14. ^ "Fight Club Movie Review : Filmmaking flair trumps familiarity to make Fight Club engaging". Times of India. 15 December 2023.
15. ^ a b "'Election': Vijay Kumar's film with 'Seththumaan' director gets a release date". The Hindu. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 5 May 2024.
16. ^ "Uriyadi Vijay Kumar raises expextations". New Cinema Express. 5 September 2022.
17. ^ "Uriyadi review: A gritty little film by a solid filmmaker". The Hindu. 28 May 2016. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
18. ^ Kumar, Karthik (5 April 2019). "Uriyadi 2 movie review: A political thriller that asks all the right questions".
19. ^ "Soorarai Pottru Review". Cinema Express. 12 November 2020.
20. ^ "'Fight Club' will capture the life journey of youngsters: Abbas". The Times of India. 30 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
21. ^ "Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards of 2016". Ananda Vikatan. 28 December 2016.
22. ^ a b "Nominations list for the SIIMA 2017 announced!". Sify.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2017.
23. ^ "Tentkotta Awards". Tentkotta. 28 April 2017.
24. ^ "Norway Tamil Film Festival: Complete list of winners". Times of India. 7 March 2017.
25. ^ "Uriyadi gets a new recognition from Tamil literary world". NDTV Tamil. 1 September 2017.
26. ^ "Visaranai, Joker, Uriyadi get valuable recognition". Indiaglitz Tamil. 4 September 2017.
27. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
28. ^ "Filmibeat Tamil Cinema Awards of 2016". Filmibeat. 13 January 2017.
29. ^ "Behindwoods Gold Medals Wall of Fame". Behindwoods. 12 April 2017.

External links

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• Vijay Kumar at IMDb
• Vijay Kumar on Facebook