A. L. Vijay

A. L. Vijay (18 June 1979), known professionally as Vijay, is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in the Tamil film industry. An assistant director with Priyadarshan, he debuted as director through the film Kireedam and gained popularity through the films Madrasapattinam (2010) and Deiva Thirumagal (2011).

Background

Vijay was born into a film family. His father, A. L. Azhagappan, is a noted film producer and a former President of the Tamil Nadu Producers Council. Azhagappan has also appeared as character artist in some films, including the film Eesan. Vijay's brother is the actor Udhaya.

Personal life Vijay was briefly married to actress Amala Paul between 2014 and 2016–17. While Vijay belongs to a Tamil-speaking Hindu family, Amala comes from a Malayali Christian family. They got engaged on 7 June 2014 at a Church in Aluva, Kerala, using a ring for the ceremony, and were married in a "traditional south Indian style wedding," presumably Hindu, on 12 June 2014 in Chennai. They separated in July 2016 and were granted a divorce by the courts in February 2017.

In July 2019, in a private family ceremony, Vijay married Dr. R. Aishwarya, a match arranged by their families. On 30 May 2020, the couple had their first child, a baby boy.

Career

2000–2008: Early Career

Prior to directing films, Vijay was a successful advertisement filmmaker with the Mumbai-based banner Venus Productions, completing more than 100 ad films. His State Bank of India commercial won CNBC's Best Corporate Advertisement Award. Vijay has claimed that "advertisements teach you how to translate a story idea onto screen with maximum impact in minimum time" and is influenced by the ad works of Suraaj, Prahlad Kakkar and Babu Shankar. He began his career in feature films by joining Priyadarshan as an assistant director in his films.

He made his directorial debut with Kireedam in 2007, a remake of the 1989 film of the same name, directed by Sibi Malayil and written by A. K. Lohithadas. Vijay's version featured Ajith Kumar in the lead role with Trisha Krishnan, Rajkiran, Saranya and Vivek also as part of the cast, while the cinematographer was Tirru, the music was composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar and the film was edited by Anthony. Vijay revealed that he "reworked about 80 per cent" from the original version and his first choice of male lead role was Vijay, however his role was grabbed by Ajith for his career security. The reviewer from The Hindu also praised the film labelling that "Vijay has neatly packaged a strong story line with a sensibly balanced mix of sentiment and action.", but claimed that "Vijay could have worked on the lead character more." The final scene in the film was changed after release from a sad to an upbeat ending after the producers felt that the original scene may keep audiences away. The film consequently went on to become a profitable venture at the box office. Vijay then returned to work as an assistant to Suraj in his action-masala Padikathavan, by helping with the dialogues and described his work in the project as "a pulsating experience". The film was completed within 13 days, with a cast containing veteran actors such as Nassar and Nedumudi Venu as well as relative newcomers including Karthik Kumar and Piaa Bajpai. The film won positive reviews from critics with The Hindu citing that "Vijay's dialogue, both humorous and thought-provoking, tickles the viewer almost throughout" and that "Vijay has understood the pulse of the audience even while sticking to his stand of providing standard fare".

2010–2015: Critical Acclaim

Vijay revealed that Madrasapattinam (2010) was supposed to happen later in his career, but the intervention of producer Kalpathi S. Aghoram of AGS Entertainment realized the viability of the film earlier. Despite being a period film, the film was finished in eight months and released in July 2010. Amala Paul was selected after Vijay was pleased with her award-winning work in Mynaa. Vijay directed the Harris: On The Edge concerts by music composer Harris Jayaraj. In 2013, he worked with Vijay alongside Amala Paul for the movie Thalaivaa. Despite winning good reviews, the film's delayed release in Tamil Nadu due to protests greatly affected the box office performance in Tamil Nadu, thus ending up as an average grosser. After working with top stars Ajith, Vijay and Vikram in his previous films, Vijay has decided to go with lesser known faces in Saivam (2014). Veteran actor Nassar and Sara Arjun of Deiva Thirumagal fame play the lead roles. Director Vijay very subtly tries to put across his message of promoting animal welfare and encouraging vegetarianism in the film. His next project is the romantic comedy film, Idhu Enna Maayam (2015).

2016–present

In February 2016, he was named as a director of Prabhu Deva trilingual film Devi opposite Tamannaah which was made in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. This marked his debut in Telugu and Hindi languages. He reunites again with Prabhu Deva in the films Lakshmi (2018) and Devi 2 (2019), simultaneously shot in Telugu as Abhinetri 2.

In 2021, he directed a biographical drama film Thalaivii based on the life of Indian actress-turned chief minister J. Jayalalithaa. The film starred Kangana Ranaut as the main protagonist Jayalalithaa and Arvind Swami as M. G. Ramachandran. The bilingual film was shot in Tamil and Hindi simultaneously. He directed a horror thriller film, Boo (2023), after the rather forgettable Diya. In 2024, the action thriller film Mission: Chapter 1 starring Arun Vijay and Amy Jackson in lead roles was released. The next direction was Kadhal Reset Repeat (2026), which was a failure.

Craft, style, and technical collaborations Vijay has described that he wants his audience "to immerse themselves" in his films, and hence uses scenes which reflect the local culture, explaining that his scenes should mirror society and "lend it an element of timelessness".

Frequent collaborators Collaborator G. V. Prakash Kumar (also acted) Anthony Nirav Shah Nassar (Devi and Tutak Tutak Tutiya) George Maryan Raj Arjun Amy Jackson (cameo) Santhanam RJ Balaji (Diya) (Devi 2) M. S. Bhaskar Balaji Venugopal (dialogues) Ajayan Bala Jayakumar Sathya (Kanam)

Filmography +Key Denotes films that have not yet been released

As film director Note: he also worked as a screenwriter for all his films, except where noted. Year Film Language Notes 2007 Kireedam Tamil 2008 Poi Solla Porom 2010 Madrasapattinam Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Director 2011 Deiva Thirumagal Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Director Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Film (Second prize)Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Director – Tamil 2012 Thaandavam 2013 Thalaivaa 2014 Saivam 2015 Idhu Enna Maayam 2016 Devi Tamil Trilingual film Abhinetri Telugu Tutak Tutak Tutiya Hindi 2017 Vanamagan Tamil 2018 Diya Kanam Telugu Lakshmi Tamil partially reshot in Telugu 2019 Watchman Devi 2 Abhinetri 2 Telugu 2021 Kutty Story Tamil Segment: Avanum Naanum Thalaivii HindiBilingual film; based on the novel by Ajayan Bala Tamil 2023 Boo TamilBilingual film Telugu 2024 Mission: Chapter 1 Tamil 2026 Kadhal Reset Repeat CircleTamilDelayed Hindi Gladiators - In Pursuit of ChallengesTamilAnnounced

As writer and producer YearTitleCredited asLanguageNotes Writer Producer 2015 Oru Naal Iravil Tamil 2017 Vanamagan 2018 Sila Samayangalil 2021Chithirai Sevvanam 2026 Kadhal Reset Repeat

Television YearTitleCredited asLanguageNetwork Creator Director 2021 Five Six Seven Eight Tamil Zee5