I. M. Vijayan

Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (, born 25 April 1969), also known by the nickname Kalo Harin (Blackbuck), is an Indian former professional footballer who captained the India national football team. He played as a striker, where he formed a successful attacking partnership with Bhaichung Bhutia for the India national football team in the late nineties and early 2000s.

Vijayan started his career with the Kerala Police football club and rose to become one of the top names in domestic football. A highly aggressive player, he eventually became the highest earner in Indian club football as well as a regular choice in the Indian team.

Vijayan's talents attracted interest from the clubs in Malaysia and Thailand, although he spent his entire career in India until retirement. By the end of his career he had scored 30 international goals in 72 matches for India. Since retiring from international football, Vijayan has set up a football academy to train young players in his home town. He was the captain of Indian football team from 2000 to 2004.

Vijayan has also acted in some notable roles in many movies. One of his movies, Mmmmm was shortlisted for India's entry into the 93rd Academy Awards.

He received many awards and honors including the Arjuna Award in 2003 and Padma Shri in 2025.

Early life and domestic career

Vijayan was born into a Malayali family on 25 April 1969 in Thrissur City, Kerala. He began his life in a gravely poor environment and had to sell soda bottles in the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium to help his family. He started out as a soda seller in the Thrissur Municipal Corporation Stadium, Kerala, earning 10 paise (0.02 cents) per bottle. He studied at Church Mission Society High School, Thrissur (CMSHSS, Thrissur).

Vijayan had passion for the game of football, and somehow caught the eye of the then DGP of Kerala, M.K. Joseph who got him selected for the Kerala Police football club at 17 years of age. Vijayan delivered brilliant performances for Kerala Police at Quilon Nationals 1987, and was able to impress the national football fraternity very soon with his impeccable skills and highly aggressive style of playing. He continued to play for Kerala Police until 1991. He then joined Mohun Bagan, before coming back to Kerala Police in 1992 and then switching back to Mohun Bagan the very next year for a second spell at the club. In 1994, he joined JCT Mills Phagwara and stayed with them for 3 more years until 1997, when he left JCT to join FC Kochin. After spending a one year tenure with the club, he moved once more to Mohun Bagan in 1998, his third spell with the club, and then returned to FC Kochin in 1999.

In August 2000, during the off-season, Vijayan joined the Bangladeshi Dhaka Premier Division League club Muktijoddha Sangsad and appeared in five league matches, while the lack of an international transfer certificate behind the signing caused a fine of 50,000 rupees by the All India Football Federation in March 2001. He rejoined FC Kochin later and played until 2001. He later signed with East Bengal before leaving in 2002 to join JCT Mills Phagwara once more. After finishing a two-year stint with the club, he left JCT in 2004 and joined Churchill Brothers S.C. He left the club after one year and joined East Bengal in 2005, which was his last professional football club as an active football player. He left East Bengal in 2006. In the 2020–21 season, Vijayan appeared with Gokulam Kerala's futsal team.

International career

I.M. Vijayan made his debut in international football in the year 1992 and played in a number of tournaments such as Nehru Cup, Pre-Olympics, FIFA World Qualifiers, SAFF Championship and SAF Games. Vijayan was part of the victorious Indian team in the 1999 South Asian Football Federation Cup and scored one of the fastest international goals in history of sport during the tournament, hitting the net against Bhutan after only 12 seconds. He also finished top scorer in the Afro-Asian Games event held in India in 2003 with four goals. Vijayan formally retired from international football after the Afro-Asian Games of 2003. Year!!Apps!!Goals

+KeyIndicates India national football team won the matchIndicates the match ended in drawIndicates India national football team lost the match + List of international goals scored by I. M. Vijayan Scores and results list India's goal tally firstNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1. 9 May 1992 Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata 1–0 1992 Asian Cup qualifier2. 2–03. 24 January 1993 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Madras 1–0 1993 Nehru Cup4. 13 June 1993 Bourj Hammoud Stadium, Beirut 1–0 1994 World Cup qualifier5. 3–16. 16 July 1993 Railway Stadium, Lahore 1–0 1993 SAFF Championship7. 21 July 1993 Railway Stadium, Lahore 1–0 1993 SAFF Championship8. 23 July 1993 Railway Stadium, Lahore 1–1 1993 SAFF Championship9. 23 December 1993 Mirpur Stadium, Dhaka 2–1 1993 South Asian Games10. 23 December 1995 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Madras 1–0 1995 South Asian Games11. 25 December 1995 Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Madras 1–0 1995 South Asian Games12. 7 September 1997 Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu 1–0 1997 SAFF Championship13. 2–014. 11 September 1997 Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu 1–0 1997 SAFF Championship15. 2–016. 13 September 1997 Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu 3–0 1997 SAFF Championship17. 5–118.7 December 1998 Supachalasai Stadium Bangkok 1–3 1998 Asian Games19.26 September 1999 Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu 3–0 1999 South Asian Games20. 4–021. 5–022. 4 October 1999 Dasharath Rangasala, Kathmandu 1–1 1999 South Asian Games23. 20 November 1999 Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Abu Dhabi 1–0 2000 Asian Cup qualifier24. 24 November 1999 Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Abu Dhabi 2–1 2000 Asian Cup qualifier25. 28 November 1999 Tahnoun bin Mohammed Stadium, Abu Dhabi 1–0 2000 Asian Cup qualifier26. 4 May 2001 Althawra Sports City Stadium, Sanaa 3–2 2002 World Cup qualifier27. 20 May 2001 Bangalore Football Stadium, Bangalore 2–0 2002 World Cup qualifier28. 26 June 2001 Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur 1–2 2001 Merdeka Tournament29. 18 January 2003 Bangabandhu Stadium, Dhaka 1–0 2003 SAFF Championship30. 24 March 2003 Fatorda Stadium, Margao 1–0 2004 Asian Cup qualifier

Honours Vijayan being felicitated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup opening ceremony, in New Delhi, 6 October 2017.

India SAFF Championship: 1993, 1997, 1999; third place: 2003 South Asian Games Gold medal: 1995; Silver medal: 1993; Bronze medal: 1999 Afro-Asian Games Silver Medal: 2003

Kerala Santosh Trophy: Winners:1992–93 Runners-up: 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1999–2000

Bengal Santosh Trophy: 1993–94

Kerala Police Federation Cup: 1990, 1991

Mohun Bagan Federation Cup: 1992, 1993, 1994

JCT Mills Federation Cup: 1995, 1995-96

Individual Padma Shri: 2025 Arjuna Award: 2003 AIFF Player of the Year: 1992, 1997, 2000 Nehru Cup Best Player: 1993 SAARC Gold Cup top scorer: 1993 Afro-Asian Games top scorer: 1993

Kalo Harin A biographical film, titled Kalo Harin and directed by Cherian Joseph, was released in 1998. The title translates as blackbuck and is a reference to Vijayan's popular nickname during his playing days.

Acting career After retiring from football, Vijayan started his acting career. His debut was through playing the lead role in the film Shantham, directed by Jayaraj. Later on, he went to act more than 20 films, in Malayalam & Tamil. In 2021, the movie 'Mmmmm' (sound of pain), starring Vijayan in the lead role was shortlisted as one of India's official entries for the Oscars.

Year Title Role Notes 2001 Shantham Velayudhan Akashathile Paravakal Walayar Manikyam 2004 Quotation Vettu Rajan 2005 Ben Johnson 2006 Thimiru Chinna Karuppu Tamil film Shyaamam Kisan Himself Mahasamudram Himself 2012 Asuravithu Valarpadam Kurudhu Musthafa Bachelor Party 2015 Komban Muthukalai Tamil film 2016 Gethu Rajendran Tamil film 2017 The Great Father Anto Mythili Veendum Varunnu 2018 Mattancherry Abrahaminte Santhathikal DYSP Muhammed Jalal 2019 Ganesha Meendum Santhipom Katthari Tamil film Porinju Mariam Jose Kuriyachira George Bigil Alex Tamil film 2021 Muddy Mmmmm: Sound of Pain Oscar shortlisted 2022 Siddy The Teacher Gunashekharan Anaparambile Worldcup Himself 2024 Idiyan Chandhu Adios Amigo Himself Gumasthan Bhadran

Awards Vijayan was crowned Indian Player of the Year in 1993, 1997 and 1999, the first player to win the award multiple times. He was also awarded the Arjuna Award in 2003. He received the Padma Shri in 2025.

Family Vijayan is married to Raji. He has 3 children: Aromal, Archana and Abhirami. He has a son in law, Abdul Aadil, and a granddaughter named Adeeva.

Other activities In 2004, he started a sports equipment company named "Boxer Sports Goods Company (BSGC)" in Thrissur.

After retirement from active football, Vijayan concentrated his attention upon his football School that he had opened in Thrissur.

He was also a member of the now defunct National Congress (Indira). In 2010, Vijayan formally took over a coaching job with Southern Samity, a premier division side in the Calcutta Football League. In March 2017, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, appointed Vijayan as the national observer for football. In October 2018, Vijayan announced that he is starting a film production company called 'Bigdaddy Entertainment' jointly with his friends, which will be mainly revolving around football.

In January 2017, Vijayan officially unveiled the club crest of newly formed I-League club Gokulam. In February 2021, Vijayan was appointed as the director of Kerala Police Football Academy, a new police football academy, which is going to be set up in Malappuram.

On 2 September 2022, Vijayan was elected as a member of the technical committee of the All India Football Federation.