Chiyaan Vikram is one of the most popular actors in the film industry. His fans know that his birth name was John Kennedy Vinod Raj (Kenny) and then he decided to change his stage name to Chiyaan Vikram. Speaking of his name, he took “Vi” from his father’s name (J Albert Victor), “K” from Kennedy, “RA” from his mother’s (Rajeswari), and “RAM” from his sun sign, Aries.
When he was just 12 years old, the urge to be an actor first emerged. In the school production of “Steam Boat,” Vikram played an unvoiced slave girl who picked cotton. Twelve years later, Vikram received the Best Actor award at the annual inter-college festival at IIT-Madras. The crowd gave a standing ovation for his performance in “Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy.”
However, a motorbike accident that he had with a friend soon after the event put his dreams in jeopardy. Vikram had experienced his first mishap, but he was not prepared to give up. His mother refused to sign the consent documents when the physicians at the government hospital in Royapettah sought to amputate his right leg.
The 45-year-old Tamil actor who made his Bollywood debut in Mani Ratnam’s Raavan in 2010, claims that he never gave up because he had to overcome a greater obstacle while he was still in college. In an interview, he said, “I was riding pillion on my friend’s motorbike and we met with an accident which badly injured my right leg.” He had to undergo 23 operations over four years to save his badly injured leg from being amputated. “I was bedridden for three years and used crutches for one year before I fully recovered,” he further said.
The subsequent months were difficult and painful; at one point, there was just a 2% chance that his right leg would be saved. Vikram suffered injuries to his skin, soft tissues and bones from the ankle to the knee. In three years, 23 procedures were required to save his legs. Before fully recuperating, Vikram spent three years in a wheelchair and another year using crutches to walk.
Vikram continued to require hospitalisation even after all of the procedures because of infections and other issues. He endured a lot of pain at that time, yet he never gave up. He told Caravan Magazine, “I just wanted to be an actor; that’s what kept me going.”
His 1990 acting debut in the low-budget love drama En Kadhal Kanmani marked the fulfilment of a lifelong goal. But it wasn’t until Sethu’s release, ten years later, that he truly rose to fame. He had already tried his hand at modelling, tried to establish his career with a few movies, and even worked as a dubbing artist for Prabhu Deva and Abbas by that time.
His film career took off and made him very successful after Sethu. He is now acknowledged for his commitment and heartfelt performances. Many of his movies, like Gemini, Saamy, Anniyan, Raavanan, and Deivathirumagal, were huge box-office successes.
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