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Vijay
Updated on : 20 May 2015

Vijay (born Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar on 22 June 1974)[2] is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer, who works in the Tamil film industry. Son of film director and producer S. A. Chandrasekhar, he started his career as a child actor in the movie Vetri and later made his debut as a lead actor in the 1992 film Naalaya Theerpu both of which were directed by his father. He launched the Vijay Makkal Iyakkam, a social welfare organisation in 2009. Vijay was listed #49 in Forbes India's "Celebrity 100 List" for the year 2013 and improved to #41 in the "2014 celebrity 100" list.FamilyVijay married Sangeetha Sornalingam on 25 August 1999.[35] They have two children, a son Sanjay born in 2000 in London,[36] and a daughter Divya born in 2005 in Chennai.
His cousin Vikranth is an actor. His uncle S. N. Surendar is a playback singer and dubbing artist.
Brand endorsementIn 2002, Vijay appeared as Coca Cola's brand ambassador in Tamil Nadu.[37][38] He acted in a variety of South Indian Coca Cola advertisements, along with Katrina Kaif. In 2008, Vijay was signed up as an ambassador for the Indian Premier League cricket team Chennai Super Kings, along with actress Nayanthara.[39] In January 2009, Vijay was approached as the brand ambassador for Coca Cola products.[40] As of August 2010, Vijay was signed by Jos Alukkas as their brand ambassador for Tamil Nadu and Kerala.[41] The Jos Alukkas advertisement featuring Vijay and his mother Shoba is an extremely famous one in Tamil Nadu. Vijay signed for Tata Docomo[42]
PhilanthropyVijay started a social welfare organisation Vijay Makkal Iyakkam 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 floods and Vijay reached out to help these people out by rendering some assistance. The area in which the camp happened soon wore a festive look with thousands of people gathering to catch a glimpse of their favorite star.[43] Vijay has appeared along with Suriya, R. Madhavan and Jyothika in a short commercial video about child poverty, labour and lack of education, titled Herova? Zerova? produced by Surya in an effort to eliminate children who drop out of school at an early age, made in association with Vishnuvardhan Induri the founder of CCL and the Ministry of Education of Tamil Nadu[44]. The Ilayathalapathy Vijay Educational Awards 2012 was conducted at JS Kalyana Mandapam in Chennai on 8 July 2012 by his Vijay Makkal Iyakkam to honour the students topped in 2012 SSLC and 12th board exams and the awards were distributed by Vijay himself. On his every birthday, Vijay presents golden rings to the new born babies at the Egmore Government General Hospital.

 

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