The South star turns 47 today Vikram was born on April 17, 1966. Even though he turns 47 today, the versatile and talented actor is still running with the younger stars of Kollywood and bagging hot roles, too. Vikram’s resilience and staying power must surely have come from the struggle that his early film career was. After a modelling stint, he featured in films such as En Kadhal Kanmani and Meera, which didn’t quite turn out to be great launch pads. He persisted in the industry, however, taking up whatever Telugu and Malayalam films came his way, and even working as a dubbing artiste.

Then came Sethu, Bala’s directorial debut, which catapulted Vikram into the big league. He followed that up with films such as Dhil, Gemini and others like Samurai and King, which deserved much greater box office success than they achieved. Saamy, Hari’s 2003 police story, saw Vikram in full flow in a full-on masala flick and he was on top again. Pithamagan, the next film Vikram did with Bala, earned him a National Award for Best Actor. Shankar’s Anniyan also won him a state award for best actor. Meanwhile, Vikram also did some forgettable films like Arul, Majaa and Bheema.

When Mani Ratnam roped in Vikram for his Tamil-Hindi bilingual Raavanan, it was a dream come true for the actor. He had different roles in both versions. But while critical acclaim came his way, the film wasn’t a box office success. Vikram invested much effort in his next two films – Deiva Thirumagal, which was a runaway hit and Thaandavam which evoked a mixed response. He seemed to want to restore the balance after the absurd Rajapattai. Bejoy Nambiar’s Tamil-Hindi bilingual David was next and did average business. Despite the mixed fortunes his films face, Vikram continues to be an in-demand actor. He is currently working on Shankar’s I. Here’s wishing the actor a very happy birthday.