Name: Vijaya Gurunatha Sethupathi

Born On: January 16, 1978

Born In: Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu

Nationality: Indian

Career: Actor, Producer, Lyricist, and Dialogue writer

Sethupathi began considering an acting career. He started his film career working as a background actor, playing minor supporting roles for over five years, before playing his first lead role in Seenu Ramasamy’s Thenmerku Paruvakaatru (2010). He went on to play the villain role in Sundarapandian (2012), and got his breakout roles with the films Pizza (2012) and Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom (2012). He has starred in more than 25 films. Over the Years, Vijay Sethupathi has transformed into a successful and popular “Indie-film star” in Tamil cinema.

Childhood

Sethupathi was born and raised in Rajapalayam until he moved to Chennai in class six. He lived in Ennore located in North Chennai. He attended the MGR Higher Secondary School in Kodambakkam and Little Angels Mat HR Sec School. According to Sethupathi, he was a “below-average student right from school” and was neither interested in sports nor extra-curricular activities.

Early Life

Sethupathi did a series of odd jobs for pocket money: salesman at a retail store, cashier at a fast food joint and a phone booth operator. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Dhanraj Baid Jain College (an affiliate of the University of Madras) in Thoraipakam. A week after he finished college, he joined as an account assistant at a wholesale cement business. He had to take care of three siblings and moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates as an accountant only because it paid him four times more than what he was making in India. In those two years in Dubai, he fell in love with Jessie from Kollam in Kerala, whom he met online and married her in 2003.

Unhappy with his job, he returned to India in 2003. After a brief stint in the interior decoration business with friends, he joined a marketing company that dealt with readymade kitchens when he saw Koothupattarai’s poster. He recalled director Balu Mahendra remarking that he had a “very photogenic face”, and motivated him to pursue an acting career.

As An Actor

He worked with Karthik Subbaraj on many short films, who later cast him in his first feature film, subsequently yield him the Best Actor award for one of his films at the Norway Tamil Film Festival short film competition. He was cast by director Suseenthiran in minor supporting roles in his first two projects, Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu (2009) and Naan Mahaan Alla (2010). Sethupathi would later credit Suseenthiran with having had an “important role in helping him realise his dreams”. Suseenthiran, furthermore, recommended Sethupathi to director Seenu Ramasamy and Sethupathi landed his first lead role in Ramasamy’s drama film Thenmerku Paruvakaatru (2011), in which he portrayed a shepherd, the film went on to win three National Film Awards including the prize for the Best Tamil Feature Film of that year.

2012 marked a turning point in Sethupathi’s career, all his three releases were critical and commercial successes, resulting in a rise in his popularity.^[26]^[27] He was first seen in a negative role in Sundarapandian which featured M. Sasikumar in the lead role, and then played the lead roles in the directorial debuts of Karthik Subbaraj and Balaji Tharaneetharan, the thriller film Pizza and the comedy entertainer Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom, respectively. He enacted the role of Michael, a delivery boy in the former and a young man named Prem who sustains short-term memory loss two days before his marriage in the latter, with his performance in both films being praised by critics.

In 2013, he was first seen in the crime comedy Soodhu Kavvum that saw him playing the role of a forty-year-old kidnapper. The film opened to extremely positive reviews and has become a huge success at the box office. His next release was Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara, directed by Gokul. It was met with positive reviews by critics and Vijay Sethupathi’s performance was highly praised.

In 2014, His films Rummy and Pannaiyarum Padminiyum were released, both directed by debutants. Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, based on its same-titled short film, revolved around an old man and his vintage car Premier Padmini, with Sethupathi starring as its chauffeur. The film opened to predominantly positive reviews from critics and is the only Tamil film which has been selected to be screened at the 19th International Film Festival of Kerala. He was next seen in the action drama Vanmam directed by debutant Jaikrishna. Though the film was met with average reviews, Sethupathi’s performance was praised by critics.

In 2015, he was first seen in the political thriller Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai directed by S. P. Jananathan. It was met with positive reviews by critics and Sethupathi’s performance was highly praised. In July 2015, his first movie as producer Orange Mittai directed by Biju Viswanath got released and met with positive reviews by the critics and entertainment portals. He was next seen in the rom-com Naanum Rowdy Dhaan directed by Vignesh Shivan which became his highest-grossing movie till date.

In 2016, he was first seen in the police action drama Sethupathi directed by S. U. Arunkumar. Sethupathi received praise for his performance. He was next seen in the romantic comedy Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum by Nalan Kumaraswamy. His next release was Iraivi followed by Dharma Durai by Seenu Ramasamy, Aandavan Kattalai by Manikandan and Rekka. He was nicknamed Makkal Selvan by Seenu Ramasamy while filming Dharma Durai, and has been popularly known by that since. His next release was the long delayed mystery-thriller Puriyatha Puthir. Then, he appeared in the rural drama Karuppan directed by R. Panneerselvam.

In 2018, his first release was Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren directed by Arumugakumar. Then, he acted in the gangster comedy Junga which was directed by Gokul and was produced by Sethupathi. He then appeared in Mani Ratnam’s multi-starrer Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. He then acted in 96 directed by C.Prem Kumar which released a week after the release of Chekka Chivantha Vaanam. He is now acting in the Balaji Tharaneetharan directorial Seethakaathi 25th film of Sethupathi’s, Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s Super Deluxe and is acting in supporting roles in Karthik Subbaraj’s Petta alongside Rajinikanth and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy alongside Chiranjeevi.

Personal Life

Sethupathi has three siblings, one elder brother, one younger brother and one younger sister. He returned from Dubai in 2003 to marry his girlfriend, whom he had met and dated online. He has two children, a son Surya and a daughter Shreeja. He named his son Surya in the remembrance of his friend who died during his school days. Surya made his acting debut playing the younger version of Sethupathi in Naanum Rowdy Dhaan (2015).

Awards

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Best Villain : “Sundarapandiyan” (2012)
Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards for Best Actor : “Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom” (2012)
Edison Awards for Best Male Rising Star : “Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom” (2012)
7th Vijay Awards for Best Actor (Special Jury Award) : “Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom” (2012)
SIIMA Awards for Best Actor (critics) : “Pizza” (2012)
Big FM Tamil Entertainment Awards for BIG FM Most Entertaining Actor of the Year : “Pizza” (2012)
Behindwoods Gold Medal for Best Acting Performance : “Soodhu Kavvum” and “Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara” (2013)
8th Vijay Awards for Best Actor (Special Jury Award) : “Soodhu Kavvum” (2013)
Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards for Best Actor : “Dharma Durai” (2016)
Asiavision Awards for Best Actor : “Dharma Durai” (2016)
Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards for Best Villain – Male : “Vikram Vedha” (2017)
Filmfare Award for Best Actor : “Vikram Vedha” (2017)
Vijay Award for Best Actor : “Vikram Vedha” (2017)

Filmography

Tamil

2004: M. Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi
2006: Pudhupettai
2007: Lee
2009: Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu
2010: Naan Mahaan Alla, Bale Pandiya, Thenmerku Paruvakaatru
2011: Varnam
2012: Sundarapandian, Pizza, Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom
2013: Soodhu Kavvum, Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara
2014: Rummy, Pannaiyarum Padminiyum, Jigarthanda, Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam, Thirudan Police, Vanmam
2015: Bench Talkies – The First Bench, Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai, Orange Mittai, Naanum Rowdy Dhaan
2016: Sethupathi, Kadhalum Kadandhu Pogum, Iraivi, Dharma Durai, Aandavan Kattalai, Rekka
2017: Kavan, Vikram Vedha, Puriyatha Puthir, Katha Nayagan, Karuppan
2018: Oru Nalla Naal Paathu Solren, Traffic Ramasamy, Junga, Imaikkaa Nodigal, Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, 96, Seethakaathi
2019: Petta, Super Deluxe