What if director Bala had gone ahead with his debut venture, 'Sedhu', with Vignesh or Abishek as the lead, as he had originally planned to? What if Vikram hadn’t got that big break him so deserved after years of toil? The loss clearly was not that of struggling Kenny’s alone.

Vikram, 43 today, with an immensely successful last decade and a highly struggling patch prior to it, is the collective symbol of hope. The glint in the eyes of those who reach the shores of filmdom who hope that their hard work will make it big. Someday.

For all the hope that Vikram has instilled in actors today, he could well be considered a superhero, beyond the camera for his current film, ‘Kanthaswamy’. Here’s an actor who was only next to Kamal Haasan to say experimentation mattered, a lot more than fancy commercial flicks, titles and punch dialogues.

A National Award-winner he might me, but his films weren’t the breed of award films. There was always a 'Majaa' after an 'Anniyan', the tightrope walk always maintained. It takes courage to do that, and Vikram has displayed it more than once.

Challenges are his middle name, and he today takes on one more, playing a hero in a film and a villain in the same film for another language: in 'Raavan'. And he being picked for these roles by, arguably, our best director today, Mani Ratnam, speaks volumes of Vikram’s talent.

And even as we imagine he has his hands full in acting, he takes a plunge as a singer, singing all songs of 'Kanthaswamy', exploring unknown areas. But that’s Vikram for you, challenging himself everytime, and bettering himself with every film.

We wish this Master of Challenges a happy birthday today and a great year ahead!