Vivek
Vivek in 2019
Born	Vivekanandan[1] (1961-11-19)19 November 1961 Sankarankovil,Tenkasi District,Tamil Nadu,India
Died	17 April 2021(2021-04-17) (aged 59) Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India
Alma mater	American College, Madurai
Occupations	Actor, comedian, television personality, playback singer, lyricist, social activist
Years active	1987–2021
Works	Full list
Spouse	Arulselvi
Children	5
Awards	Kalaimamani
Honours	Padma Shri (2009)

Vivekanandan (19 November 1961 – 17 April 2021), known professionally asVivek,^[2] was an Indian actor, comedian, television personality, playback singer, social activist, and entertainer who worked in theTamil film industry. He was introduced in films by directorK. Balachander inManathil Urudhi Vendum (1987)

He has won threeFilmfare Award for Best Comedian – Tamil forRun (2002),Saamy (2003),Perazhagan (2004) and fiveTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian for the films,Unnaruge Naan Irundhal (1999),Run (2002),Parthiban Kanavu (2003),Anniyan (2005) andSivaji (2007).

His comedy style consisted ofone-liners andwordplay that featured social andpolitical satire, which led to critics comparing him toN. S. Krishnan and earning him the nicknameChinna Kalaivanar.

In 2009, theGovernment of India awarded Vivek thePadma Shri award for his contribution to the arts.^[3]Sathyabama University conferred Vivek with anhonorary doctorate for his contribution to society through cinema. As a television personality, Vivek hosted a number of events and interviewed media personalities, notablyA. P. J. Abdul Kalam. Inspired by Kalam's environmentalism, Vivek founded the Green Kalam initiative in 2010 with the mission of planting one billion trees acrossTamil Nadu.^[4]

Vivek was born as Vivekanandan in the Perunkottur Village nearSankarankovil, Tamil Nadu, India on 19 November 1961.^{[citation needed]} Vivek graduated fromThe American College in Madurai.^{[citation needed]}

While working at the Secretariat in Chennai, Vivek in his free-time participated at the Madras Humour Club where people would perform stand-up comedy. He helped pioneer the movement to expand and subsequently won the Best Entertainer Award several times during his pantomimes at the club. Vivek subsequently left Chennai and went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in commerce fromMadurai and during semester breaks, he would return and perform at the club.^[5] P. R. Govindarajan, Founder of Humour Club, introduced him to film directorK. Balachandar for the first time and began a professional relationship as a script-writer for the director's films. Vivek revealed that after four years, Balachandar explained a situation and asked him to write a script for sixteen characters, which Vivek completed overnight. He later understood that this was actually a test, and through his performance, Balachandar became closer to Vivek.^[5] While assisting with the script forManathil Uruthi Vendum in 1987, Balachandar offered Vivek an acting role ofSuhasini's brother in the film, which he decided to pursue.^[6] He began his career portraying supporting roles and collaborated again with Balachandar inPudhu Pudhu Arthangal (1989) andOru Veedu Iru Vasal (1990), before often appearing in the primary cast as a friend to the film's lead actor in films such asK. S. Ravikumar'sPutham Pudhu Payanam (1991) andVikraman'sNaan Pesa Ninaipathellam (1993). He then also made appearances inRajinikanth'sUzhaippali andVeera, playing secondary cast roles. Vivek had to wait till 1996 to establish himself as a sole comedian who could help carry the film, and thereafter began to appear in increasingly prominent roles in his ventures.^[7]

In the late 1990s, Vivek was able to make a breakthrough by appearing as the lead comedian in films, who would often be the main friend of the lead actor and thus his on-screen time began to increase. He worked consecutively on successful films starringAjith Kumar, appearing as a sidekick inKaadhal Mannan,Unnai Thedi andVaalee, and had similar success repeatedly featuring alongsidePrashanth inKannedhirey Thondrinal,Poomagal Oorvalam andAasaiyil Oru Kaditham. He subsequently became amongst the most busy actors in 2000 and 2001, featuring in over fifty films in two years. Films includingKushi,Priyamanavale andMinnale became blockbusters, while his roles inMani Ratnam'sAlai Payuthey,Mugavaree andDumm Dumm Dumm all won critical acclaim for the actor. The rising success of Vivek's films had meant that he was featured on film posters on an equivalent scale to the lead actor, and thus helped stuck films find distributors. Telugu films were dubbed into Tamil and released with an additional comedy track featuring the actor such asKanden Seethaiyai, while devotional filmsKottai Mariamman,Palayathu Amman andNageswari were released with a separate comedy track featuring Vivek.^[8][9] In 2000, directorK. Subash had planned a film starring Vivek in the leading role titledEnakkenna Korachal?, however the film never materialised.^[10] Similarly in 2001, he began production on a film titledPanju byRama Narayanan in which he appeared as the protagonist, but the venture was also then shelved as was another film to be directed bySivachandran.^[11][12]

Vivek worked on more commercially successful ventures in 2002 and 2003, receiving consecutiveFilmfare Award for Best Comedian – Tamil andTamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Comedian for his work inRun. He played extended comedy roles inVikram'sDhool andPriyadarshan'sLesa Lesa, while winning further acclaim for his portrayal of a teacher inSaamy and a software engineer inParthiban Kanavu. He then played a marginally more serious role inS. Shankar's coming-of-age taleBoys, portraying a mentor to the group of youngsters, and his performance was well received. Critics noted that "Vivek, for a change, follows Shankar’s script and delivers with his impeccable sense of comic timing", while the reviewer fromThe Hindu said "the show belongs to Vivek, he's the mouthpiece for the director."^[13][14] Success continued in 2004, where he retained theFilmfare Award for Best Comedian for his role of a marriage assembler inPerazhagan, while his roles inChellamae andM. Kumaran Son of Mahalakshmi helped contribute to the films' commercial success respectively.^[15] His rising profile as an actor meant that he became the first comedian to become an ambassador for the soft drink, securing the sponsorship deal withMirinda after the brand had carried out market surveys to find a popular promoter.^[16][17] He also made a special exception to appear in a few artistic films and often charged significantly less remuneration for the ventures, notably playing character roles inJanaki Vishwanathan'sKutty (2001) andThangar Bachan'sAzhagi (2002).^[18] In the later film, the director had requested Vivek to write and appear in a role himself, in order to use his fame to help the film find a distributor for release.^[19]

A film which would feature Vivek in the leading role finally materialised in early 2004 and he completed a project titledSolli Addipean directed by newcomer Ramki. The team worked on the production of the film for close to a year and ensured that the audience would be able to accept the comedian's transformation into a lead role, with actressesChaya Singh andTejashree cast as the film's heroines.^[19] Despite completion, the film has been stuck since 2004 and as a result of a failure to find a distributor, the film is unlikely to have a theatrical release. Another proposed film where he would play the lead role,Super Subbu byV. C. Guhunathan, also failed to develop after an announcement.^[20] In mid 2004, he suffered an injury during the production of a film and took a break from acting assignments for a period of six months.^[21]

Vivek returned by portraying a well-received supporting role in Shankar'sAnniyan (2005), appearing as an undercover police officer hunting down clues left by a psychopath serial killer. The film opened to critical and commercial success with a critic noting "Vivek's comedy is bankable", and the actor subsequently went on to win theState Award for Best Comedian for his work on the venture.^[22] He continued his comeback with appearances inVijay'sAathi,Ajith Kumar'sParamasivan andSilambarasan'sSaravana, all of which released on the same day in January 2006. After winning acclaim for his performance as a comedic undercover detective inSusi Ganesan'sThiruttu Payale, Shankar approached him to feature in a prominent role in his ventureSivaji (2007), starringRajinikanth, which would go on to become the most expensive Tamil film made at release.^[23] Vivek allotted ninety days for the film, significantly more than any of his previous films, and his performance as Rajinikanth's sidekick Arivu won him another award from the state forBest Comedian. He won positive reviews from critics for his performance, with reviewers noting his "one-liners are really whacky and hilarious" and that "Vivek must come in for special mention for his performance".^[24][25]

In the late 2000s, Vivek's market reach began to falter as a result of changes in screenplay in Tamil cinema, which saw fewer films adopting a separate comedy track. Moreover, the lack of big budget films signed by the actor and the emergence ofSanthanam, saw Vivek reach a nadir in 2012, where he only had a single release.^[26] His acclaimed work during the period involved a portrayal of a don inPadikathavan (2009), an appearance in drag inGuru En Aalu (2009) and as a police officer in theSingam (2010) series.^[27] Re-emerging after a sabbatical, Vivek announced his plans to move away from his usual comedy roles after being advised by directorBala andKamal Haasan and signed for a film titledNaan Than Bala (2014), in which he played a serious role.^[28] Simultaneously he began work on another film as the lead actor inPalakkattu Madhavan (2015) oppositeSonia Agarwal, while appearing in another parallel lead role withKarunas inSakthi Chidambaram's unreleasedMachan. After his return, Vivek collaborated with film makers to appear again in bigger budget films and worked onVelraj'sVelaiyilla Pattathari (2014),Gautham Vasudev Menon'sYennai Arindhaal (2015),Aishwarya Dhanush'sVai Raja Vai (2015).^[29]

After that Vivek appeared inVamshi P.'s movieThozha (2016), which starredKarthi. Vivek notably starred as himself inRadha Mohan's comedy drama filmBrindavanam (2017), which explored his friendship with a deaf and dumb fan. The film and Vivek garnered critical acclaim, with a reviewer noting the actor is in "good form" and "completely steals the limelight".^[30][31] In 2019, he appeared as retired cop who heads to live inSeattle in the thriller filmVellai Pookkal, and won positive reviews for his portrayal of a serious character. A reviewer noted "despite seeming a bit awkward in certain scenes, the actor pulls it off thanks to his persistence", while another critic stated Vivek delivers his role in a "believable and convincing manner".^[32][33] His last film before his death wasDharala Prabhu (2020), in which he starred alongsideHarish Kalyan. His first posthumous appearance wasAranmanai 3 in 2021.^[34] He has also played a supporting role inThe Legend,Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir,Indian 2.^[35]

Vivek's unprecedented death during the middle of theprincipal photography ofIndian 2 meant that the remaining portions involving Vivek had to be wrapped up by bringing on board another person resembling similar to Vivek and as a result the director of the filmS. Shankar roped inKovai Babu as a like-to-like replacement.^[36][37] Kovai Babu eventually completed his film portions inIndian 2 by acting as a body double for late actor Vivek.^[38] Vivek's scenes were completed with Kovai Babu being the body double and his face digitally morphed to resemble Vivek.^[39][40] Due to Vivek's deaths before production ofIndian 2 could be completed, Shankar decided to use visual effects to complete his remaining scenes.

Through his career, he had acted in over 222 films.^[41]

Vivek married Arulselvi, with whom he had five children: Amritha Nandini, Tejaswini, Prasanna Kumar, Prashanthini, and Prathana. Prasanna Kumar died in 2015, aged 13, due to complications arising frommeningitis. Prashanthini and Prathana were twins born in 2017. This was confirmed by his wife in a TV interview.^[42] His friendCell Murugan was his frequent co star.^[43]

On 16 April 2021, Vivek experienced breathlessness and chest pain and was admitted to a SIMS Hospital in Chennai after falling unconscious at home. Doctors deemed him critical and discovered that he had athrombosis with 100% blockage in the left anterior descending artery, which causedcongestive heart failure.^[44][45] Following anangioplasty, he died in hospital on 17 April 2021 at the age of 59.^[46][47] He was given astate funeral amidst large crowds near his residence inVirugambakkam, Chennai.^[48] A day prior to the attack, Vivek received Bharat Biotech'sCovaxin and campaigned for vaccination againstCOVID-19. This led to speculation that his death may be linked to the vaccine, however theNational Human Rights Commission ruled out any link between the vaccine and his heart attack, and instead related tohypertension.^[49] Vivek's funeral took place in Chennai with fullstate honours.^[50]

The Greater Chennai Corporation has renamed the street where Vivek lived as "Chinna Kalaivanar Vivek Road."^[51]

In 2010, Vivek launched Green Kalam, a project to plant trees across India inspired by former President of IndiaA. P. J. Abdul Kalam.^[52] ThroughTwitter, he mobilized volunteers, particularly from schools and colleges, to join the initiative. Kalam insisted the project should not be named after him, after which Vivek briefly changed its name to Green Globe.^[53] As of his death, over 3,300,000 saplings had been planted.^[54]

Vivek, along with actorsSuriya,Jyothika andKarthi, had been appointed an ambassador for thePlastic Pollution Free Tamil Nadu campaign by the state's government under the leadership of Chief MinisterEdappadi K. Palaniswami in 2018.^[55][56]

He was the brand ambassador ofMirinda soft drinks in 2003 and Nathella Jewellery in 2011.^{[57][58][16][59]}

No.	Image	Ribbon	Decoration	Field	Conferred date	Conferred by	Presenter	Ref.
1			Padma Shri (Fourth Highest Civilian Award of India)	Art	15 April 2009	Government of India	Pratibha Devisingh Patil	[60]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toVivek (actor).

• Vivek atIMDb
• Vivek atRotten Tomatoes
• Vivek onTwitter

• 1961 births
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• Tamil comedians
• Indian male film actors
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• Indian male comedians
• People from Thoothukudi district
• 20th-century Indian male actors
• 21st-century Indian male actors
• Male actors in Tamil cinema
• Tamil-language playback singers
• 20th-century Indian male singers
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