Vijay Antony | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Vijay Antony atKolaigaran Press Meet | |
| Born | Frances Antony Cyril Raja (1975-07-24)24 July 1975 (age 50) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Spouse | Fathima |
| Children | 2[1] |
| Relatives | Samuel Vedanayagam (great-grandfather) |
Frances Antony Cyril Raja (born 24 July 1975), known professionally asVijay Antony,[2] is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor,film editor, lyricist,audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly inTamil cinema.
He made his debut as music composer in 2005 withSukran. He made his acting debut in 2012 withNaan and is known for his roles inaction thriller films such asSalim (2014) andPichaikkaran (2016).[3]
Vijay Antony was born inNagercoil,Kanyakumari District. When he entered the media and film industry, he had picked Agni as his stage name, but this was changed to Vijay by directorS. A. Chandrasekhar who had commented that Agni was not lucky.
Antony was brought up by his mother after his father committed suicide when Antony was 7. He is not a trained musician, but started his career as asound engineer and later became a music composer. After completing his tertiary education, he established an audio studio called Audio Infotainment and worked there as a sound engineer. In his early days as amusic composer, he composed jingles for advertisements, and notable background scores for television shows by conducting research on sound engineering.[4] His music composing venture in movies arrived whenOscar Ravichandran approached Antony to compose music for his filmDishyum, but his music composer debut in movies happened throughSukran, as it was released first.
Vijay Antony started his composing career with the 2005 filmSukran.[5] He was nominated for his score in the filmNaan Avan Illai (2007).
Antony's songs for the 2008 filmKadhalil Vizhunthen became hits, especially thedappankuthu numberNakka Mukka.[6] He became the first Indian music director to win a Cannes Golden Lion award, for "Nakka Mukka" (forThe Times of India) in the Best of Music category.[7] The song was later played at the 2011 Cricket World Cup.[8]
Antony composed the music to a few Tamil soundtracks in 2009, includingA Aa E Ee,TN 07 AL 4777,Mariyadhai,Ninaithale Inikkum, andVettaikaaran.
Antony had composed music for many Tamil films of the early 2010s, includingAval Peyar Thamizharasi,Uthama Puthiran,Vedi, andVelayudham.
Antony made his Telugu composing debut withMahatma (2009) and his Kannada composing debut withBuddhivantha (2007).[9][10]
Antony has composed music for most of his own acting films, includingNaan (2012),Salim (2014),Pichaikkaran (2016),Saithan (2016),Yaman (2017),Annadurai (2017),Kaali (2018),Thimiru Pudichavan (2019) andPichaikkaran 2 (2023).
Vijay Antony's acting debut was in the crime thrillerNaan where he played the lead role.[11] The film's standalone sequel titledSalim, an action thriller, was his next project as an actor, for which he also composed music.[12]
In 2015, he starred in the romantic comedyIndia Pakistan, his first acting film for which he was not the music director.[13] In 2016, he chose to star in the action thrillerPichaikkaran (2016), collaborating with hisDishyum directorSasi.[14] It became a commercial success, with overall collections nearing 40 Crore.[15] The Telugu dubBichagadu was a bigger success than the original.[16] His next wasSaithan, an action thriller directed by debutant Pradeep Krishnamoorthy.[17]
He appeared in the 2017 political action thrillerYaman directed byJeeva Shankar, whom he collaborated with for the second time afterNaan. The film released to positive reviews.[18] His next filmAnnadurai in the same year was an action drama which received mixed reviews.[19] In 2018, he starred inKaali, a period action film directed byKiruthiga Udhayanidhi andThimiru Pudichavan, an action film directed by Ganeshaa.[20][21] In 2019, he starred inKolaigaran, an action thriller directed by Andrew Louis[22] and co-starringArjun.[23] The film opened to highly positive reviews.[24]
Antony made his directorial debut withPichaikkaran 2 in 2023.[25] Vijay Antony plays the lead role of a romantic hero inRomeo (2024).[26][27]
Shakthi Thirumagan is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language political drama film directed by Arun Prabhu. It marks actor Vijay Antony’s 25th film and explores themes of politics, family, and revenge.[28]
Antony is married to Fatima Vijay Antony, and they had two daughters, Meera and Lara. Meera, the elder daughter, committed suicide on 19 September 2023 at the age of 16 at their home in Chennai.[29][30] For his films produced by Vijay Antony Film Corporation, Fatima was credited as the producer except forRomeo (2024), for which Meera was credited as the producer. She was also credited as the presenter ofShakthi Thirumagan (2025).[31][32] His nephew Ajay Dhishan starred alongside him in a few films.[33]
Antony has a well-known great-grandfather,Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, who was a Tamil poet, novelist, and social worker and is remembered for his authorship ofPrathapa Mudaliar Charithram, recognized as the "first modern Tamil novel." Vedanayagam's ideals of women's liberation and education are reflected in this novel.[34]
| Year | Film | Role(s) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Kizhakku Kadarkarai Salai | Naren Gupta | Cameo appearance |
| 2009 | TN 07 AL 4777 | Himself | Special appearance in "Aathichudi" song |
| 2012 | Naan | Karthik / Mohammed Salim | |
| 2014 | Salim | Dr. Mohammed Salim | |
| 2015 | India Pakistan | Adv. Karthik | |
| 2016 | Pichaikkaran | Arul Selva Kumar | |
| Nambiar | Himself | Special Appearance in "Aara Amara" song | |
| Saithan | Dinesh, Sharma | Dual role | |
| 2017 | Yaman | Thamizharasan (Yaman), Arivudainambi | |
| Mupparimanam | Himself | Special appearance in "Let's Go Party" song | |
| Annadurai | Annadurai & Thambidurai | Dual role | |
| 2018 | Kaali | Kaali (Bharath), Young Periyasamy (Samy), Young Maari, Young John | Quadruple roles |
| Traffic Ramasamy | Himself | Cameo Appearance | |
| Thimiru Pudichavan | Inspector Murugavel | ||
| 2019 | Kolaigaran | Prabhakaran IPS | |
| 2021 | Kodiyil Oruvan | Vijaya Raghavan | |
| 2022 | Agni Siragugal | Seenu | Unreleased Film |
| 2023 | Tamilarasan | Inspector Tamilarasan | |
| Pichaikkaran 2 | Vijay Gurumoorthy, Sathya | Dual role | |
| Kolai | Vinayak | ||
| Raththam | Ranjith Kumar | ||
| 2024 | Romeo | Arivazhagan / Vikram | |
| Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan | Salim / 2223 / Antony | [35] | |
| Hitler | Selva | [36] | |
| 2025 | Maargan | ADGP Dhruv Guvarak | [37] |
| Shakthi Thirumagan | Kittu | 25th Film[38] | |
| 2026 | Pookie | Cameo appearance | |
| Lawyer† | TBA | Filming[39] |
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Annadurai | |
| 2018 | Thimiru Pudichavan | |
| 2021 | Kodiyil Oruvan | |
| 2023 | Pichaikkaran 2 | |
| 2024 | Romeo | |
| 2026 | Pookie | [40] |
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Pichaikkaran 2 |
| Year | Title | Role | Language | Network(s) | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–present | Mahanadigai | Judge | Tamil | Zee Tamil | [42] |
