Vijay, popularly known as ' Ilayathalapathy' Vijay, is the young Turk of the Tamil Film Industry. He was born on 22nd June1974 as Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar, in a family with a strong filmy background- his father S.A. Chandrasekhar, is a popular director and mother Shoba, a famous playback singer. He made his debut as a child artiste in the film 'Vetri'. 

After schooling he joined for a degree in Visual Communications at Loyola College Chennai but later dropped his studies to pursue an acting career. His father S.A.Chandrasekaran introduced him as a hero in his movie 'Naalaiya Theerppu' in 1992. It was movies like 'Poove Unakkaga' (1996) and director Fazil's super hit 'Kadhalukku Mariyathai' (1997) that took his career into an all time high. Initially criticized for his looks, it was sheer determination and hard work that has helped Vijay carve out an enviable slot for himself in the industry.

Vijay also took a challenging role in the movie 'Priyamudan'(1998) as an anti -hero at the height of his career which was unusual, but the movie turned out to be a super hit and gave him a big break. Vijay is talented in all aspects of acting like emoting, action and dance. He has a sense of comic timing and his dancing is simply superb. He has given the audience unforgettable performances in his movies one after the other such as Madhurey(2004), Sachien(2005) Pokkiri(2007) etc which has helped him establish himself as a Tamil Super Star. Even though little dark in complexion, his charming face, innocent smile and bright eyes have made his fans fall head over heels for him. 

Vijay is also into playback singing and has sung for many movies such as 'Sachein', 'Bagavathi', 'Thamizhan', 'Badri' and many more. He has also appeared in several commercials like Coca-Cola, Sun feast Milky Magic Biscuit etc. Vijay lends his support to the poor and the needy through his fans' association. They are involved in many social activities such as conducting mass weddings, donations to temples and helping poor children in their education.   

Personally, Vijay is a very down to earth person and always remains very simple without the least trace of any affected manners or pretence. Vijay got married to Sangeetha on August 1999 and is blessed with a son Jason Sanjay and daughter Divya Saasha. He is residing at Chennai with his family. 

Vijay has bagged many awards for his performances. He recieved Tamil Nadu’s Best Actor award for 'Kadhalukku Mariyadhai' in 1997, State’s Kalaimamani award in 1998, Dinakaran best actor award for 'Ghilli' in 2004, Film Today and Madras Corporate Club Best actor in 2005 for 'Ghilli' and also received the M.G.R.Award in 2000. He is the youngest actor to have won the MGR award from the Tamil Nadu Government.Though he has been through ups and downs in his career, the versatile actor with his winsome youthful looks and eclectic acting potential, is still going strong and remains a super star in the Tamil film Industry.