Vijay Antony

Biography

Early Days and Background Vijay Antony was born in Nagercoil. He lost his father when he was 7 years old and his sister was just 5 years. They were pushed into difficult days and his mother took up a government job to educate the children and support the family. The three of them were isolated and struggled to take their lives forward. But sacrifices, patience and hardwork rewarded them with success gradually. Vijay is also the great grandson of Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai (1826–1889), also known as Mayavaram Vedanayagam Pillai, who was an Indian civil servant. Tamil poet, novelist and social worker who is remembered for the authorship of Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram, recognized as the "first modern Tamil novel". The novel reflects Vedanayagam's own ideals of women's liberation and education. His contribution to carnatic music is immense.

Vijay had to reason with life's challenging situations at an early age leading to his reticent manner. But within him there was a strong determination to work against odds and take up challenges in each phase of his life. After finishing BSc in Physics from St Xavier's college in Trichy, Vijay joined Visual Communications course at Loyola. Moving from his native city to a metro, having studied in tamil medium schools, he was getting into english medium of education at Loyola. He was staying at the college hostel and along with this course, took up part time job, training in sound engineering with a studio in Kodambakkam. His education with Loyola was sponsored by a Pries tRev Fr. Ignacimuthu. Walking from college located at Nungambakam to the studio at Kodambakkam after college sessions and getting back to the hostel late nights, with food getting over in the college mess only added to his perseverance. He grew up listening to and inspired by the songs and music of Maestro Illayaraja, which was also his solace when he faced poverty and fought hard not to fall into depression. So his move to learn sound engineering was the first step to get an entry into the film industry. Vijay worked with sound engineer Emmy & Selvakumar. He worked on jingles for ad films and in 2005 Vijay established himself as a music director, and in 2012 as actor and producer.

Personal Life Vijay married Fatima in 2006. He lives with his wife, two daughters, mother and mother-in-law in Chennai. Fatima has been the supportive and confident wife, for the ongoing success of Vijay's career. She has been producing Vijay's movies and takes an active role in managing his day to day activities. Vijay stays fit with regular workouts and follows a strict diet. Active in social media, he enjoys interacting with his fans and takes note of their inputs. He engages with personal interest in selecting scripts and works closely with the teams to make each movie a unique experience for the people. He has a long journey ahead and has put in tremendous thought and hard work to make each movie memorable.

Singer

Awards:

He is the first Indian to win the 2009 Cannes Golden Lion for the Nakka Mukka commercial (for The Times of India) in the Best of Music category. Nakka Mukka raised his fame and that song was played in the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Television