Vivek was a popular South Indian actor, singer and social activist. In 2009, he was awarded the Padma Shri award for his contribution to Indian cinema.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Vivekananda, popularly known as Vivek, was born on Sunday, 19 November 1961 (age 59 at the time of death) in Nalla village in Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu. Their zodiac sign is Scorpio. He did his schooling from GHSS Vannavasi, Tamil Nadu and Government Boys High School, Pallipalayam, Tamil Nadu. He then pursued graduation in commerce from American College, Madurai. He then studied at SRM Arts and Science College, Tamil Nadu and Wells Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies (VISTAS), Tamil Nadu. He did post graduation in commerce.
An old picture of Vivek
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 7″
Eye colour: black
Hair Color: Black
family and caste
parents and siblings
His father’s name is Angayya and mother’s name is Maniammal.
Vivek with his mother
Relationships, wife and children
He was married to Arulselvi Vivek and had two daughters, Tejaswini and Amrita Nandini. His son Prasanna Kumar died at the age of 13 due to dengue and meningitis.
Vivek with his wife
Vivek with his family
Vivek with his son
Vivek’s daughter Tejaswini Vivek
livelihood
As a stand-up comedian
He started his career as a secretariat in the Government of Tamil Nadu and at that time, in his spare time, he used to work as a stand-up comedian in Madras Humor Club. He then moved to Chennai for his graduate studies and continued working at the Madras Humor Club. Later Humor Club founder PR Govindarajan introduced him to Indian film director K Balachander and Vivek got a chance to work as a screenwriter in one of his films.
as an actor
When he was working as a screenwriter on the Tamil film ‘Manathil Uruthi Vendam’ (1987), K. Balachandran offered him a role in this film, to which he agreed and played the role of Suhasini (South Indian actress)’s brother in the film. , In his early days in the Tamil film industry, he worked in films like ‘Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal’ (1989), ‘Oru Veedu Iru Vasal’ (1990), ‘Vanja Girija’ (1994), ‘Muthukulikka Variyala’ (1995), and ‘Mayabazar’ ( 1995).
Vivek in an old movie
In 1996, his career took off when he started playing the role of a comedian in Tamil films. Some of her popular Tamil films are ‘Anniyan’ (2005), ‘Sivaji’ (2007), ‘Velaiyilla Pattathari’ (2014), ‘VIP 2’ (2017), and ‘Dharala Prabhu’ (2020).
Till 2021, he has worked in more than 220 films and his last film as an actor was ‘Indian 2’ (2021).
Apart from working in films he was actively involved in various social activities. He was a green environment activist and on 6 June 2019, he planted 10,000 saplings on the eve of Environment Day. Later, he started “Go Green Initiative”, an NGO of “Thuimai Arunai” to promote green environment and he also worked to promote “Green Kalam Project”.
Vivek at the International Coastal Clean Up 2011
He was inspired by the work of former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and worked to promote the “Green Globe Project”, a campaign against global warming. Talking about the project in an interview, he said,
Kalam sir gave me the task of planting one crore trees. I have planted 21.5 lakh saplings in the last three years and next month I will complete the work of planting three lakh more saplings. Usually when showbiz people commit to social work, it is very difficult to maintain the momentum due to the nature of our work. Considering his stature, Kalam Saheb could have easily chosen Shahrukh Khan or Salman Khan, even Aamir Khan would have obliged. But I asked him why he chose me for this job? He quoted a verse from Thirukkural. Its essence is that there are missions that are to be performed by those who are best suited for the mission.
Vivek and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam
She was appointed as the brand ambassador of Plastic Free Tamil Nadu along with South Indian actress Jyothika to promote the Plastic Free Tamil Nadu campaign launched by the Government of Tamil Nadu.
Awards and Honors
- Filmfare Awards for the Tamil films ‘Run’ (2002), ‘Saamy’ (2003) and ‘Perazhagan’ (2004)
- Tamil Nadu State as Best Comedian for the Tamil films ‘Unnaruge Naan Irundhaal’ (1999), ‘Run’ (2002), ‘Parthiban Kanavu’ (2003), ‘Anniyan’ (2005), and ‘Sivaji’ (2007) Film Awards.
- Kalaimamani Award for his contribution to Tamil cinema (2006)
Vivek receiving the Kalaimamani Award
- Edison Award as Best Comedian for ‘Guru N Aloo’ (2007)
- Padma Shri Award for his contribution to the arts (2009)
Vivek receiving the Padmashree award
- Doctor of Literature degree for contribution to society through cinema by Sathyabama University (2015)
Note: He had many other honors to his name.
Death
On 16 April 2021, he suffered a severe heart attack and was immediately admitted to SIMS Hospital, Vadapalani. He underwent angioplasty and stenting procedure, but could not survive and breathed his last at 4:35 am on 17 April 2021. The hospital issued a statement on his death, saying,
An acute coronary syndrome with cardiogenic shock. This is an isolated cardiac event. “It may not be due to Covid vaccination.”
Many Indian celebrities like AR Rahman, Radhika Sarathkumar, Mohan Raja and Gautam Karthik shared their grief on his demise.
Facts/General Knowledge
- When he was in college, he used to participate in various plays and other extra-curricular activities.
- Reportedly, he named his son Prasanna after his friend who had passed away and was co-screenwriter with Vivek in the Tamil film ‘Run’ (2002).
- He had recorded some songs for some of his Tamil films.
Vivek recording his first song
- Vivek was appointed the brand ambassador of Mirinda Soft Drinks (2003) and Nathela Jewelery (2011).
- He appeared in some TV commercials like Bajaj Boxer and Medimix Ayurveda.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6m54vV-nV0
- He said, in 2019, at the audio launch of Tamil film ‘Bigil’, he had given a statement which was not liked by the public.
Nenjil Kudiyirukkam was a song in the 1960 film Irumbuthirai starring Sivaji Ganesan, and the song did not have much appeal, but now this Nenjil Kudiyirukkam from Vijay has a bigger reach.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn