Today being the birthday of Chiyaan Vikram, the consummate star actor, we are pleased to present a special Tuesday Trivia in which we bring a few lesser known facts about him.  Vikram was named Kennedy by his parents and when he decided to become an actor he himself chose the name by taking the first letters VIK from his father (Viktor), RA from his mother (Rajeshwari) and added completed it with RAMm his sun sign symbol for Aries.

Vikram's maternal uncle is veteran actor/producer/director Thiagarajan which makes him and actor Prashanth first cousins.  His college friends are director Dharani with whom he made 'Dhill' and 'Dhool' and music composer Vidyasagar. During his college days he met with a horrific accident which rendered him immobile for three years and though doctors concluded that he may never walk again, he did so with sheer determination.

After making his debut in 1990 with 'En Kadhal Kanmani' and the very next film 'Thanthuvitten Ennai' directed by the legend C. V. Sridhar, Vikram had a lean patch for several years.  In those time he worked as a dubbing artiste and has lent his voice for actors Ajith ('Amaravathi'), Prabhu Deva ('Kadhalan'/'Minsara Kanavu' and Abbas ('Kandu Kondein Kandu Kondein'.

Vikram was the first choice for Mani Ratnam's 'Bombay' and he even did a photo shoot with Manisha Koirala but later had to walkout due to unforseen circumstances and Arvind Swamy replaced him.  Many years later the duo worked together in 'Ravanan'.

Vikram's big break in Tamil came with Bala's 'Sethu' in 1999 and the preceding nine years he acted in several Malayalam and Telugu projects in supporting roles to survive with the hope of making it big someday.  For his role as a blind singer in 'Kaasi', Vikram had to strain his eyes for hours together which resulted in his eyesight being altered and he has to use glasses while driving and reading.

In 2000, Vikram teamed up with actress Meena for a music album and video project titled 'Kadhalism' apart from singing in movies like 'Gemini', 'Madrasapattinam' and 'Sketch'.  He has directed 'Spirit of Chennai' as a tribute for the Chennai floods of 2015 in which actors Abhishek Bachan, Karthi, Jayam Ravi, Jiiva, Vijay Sethupathi, Sivakarthikeyan and Nayanthara among others appeared.

Vikram has won seven Filmfare awards and one National Award for 'Pithamagan' and many other national and international awards. The audience always respect him for the dedication he shows for his roles like becoming skeletal for Shankar's 'I' that almost sent him to a hospital bed.

The upcoming projects of Vikram are 'Dhruva Natchathiram' directed by Gautham Menon, 'Saamy Square' directed by Hari, a Kamal Haasan production directed by Rajesh M Selva and 'Mahaveer Karna' a multilingual project budgeted at 300 Crores.