JOIN USTwo decades have passed since he made his debut as a leading man in the Sundar C-directed Murai Mappillai, but Arun Vijay is yet to cement his place in Kollywood and has a long way to go before joining the A-listers in the industry.
Tall and handsome with a cleft chin, Arun is also well known for the high octane action sequences in his films where he also dons the role of a stunt co-ordinator. The only son of a popular hero of yesteryear, Vijayakumar, Arun has now re-emerged in a new avatar as an antagonist, and this transformation appears to have worked wonders for him as he is in demand for negative roles not just in Tamil cinema, but in Telugu and Kannada films as well.
Tamil cinema has seen actors like Rajanikant and Sathyaraj starting out as baddies and later graduating to heroes. But in Arun’s case, it is the other way round. He has no regrets though, as he made his debut as a villain in a film directed by Gautam Menon who generally crafts the villain’s role with as much indulgence as that of a hero’s. Incidentally, the film was the Ajith Kumar-starrer Yennai Arindhaal and Arun was cast as Victor, a ruthless villain, and won plaudits from one and all.
Arun has now obviously decided that while he is still game for the hero’s role, he will not be averse to donning the villain’s role either. In the Telugu release Bruce Lee starring Ramcharan Teja in the lead, Arun played the spoilt son of a millionaire villain. The film, however, received mixed reviews.
Choice of roles
A look at Arun’s career graph over the years reveals that he has been extremely selective in choosing his projects and has also taken care that he is not stereotyped. While he has basically laid stress on action roles, he has done sentimental characters too in films like Pandavar Bhoomi. He has also done purely commercial films like Malai Malai and Maanja Velu, but although these films were not total washouts at the box-office, they were not hugely successful either. Arun’s performances in the films, especially his stunt sequences, won the admiration of the front benchers. A turning point in his career came in the form of a lead role in the Magizh Thirumeni-directed Thadaiyara Thaakka, an action thriller.
The actor has had his share of non-descript films too like Thulli Thirintha Vaanam, Ganga Gowri, Thavam and Vedham. An exception, however, was the film Iyarkai, directed by S P Jananathan, in which Kannada actress Radhika played the heroine’s role. Arun played the role of the heroine’s love interest, a dashing captain who is presumed to be lost at sea leaving his girlfriend pining for him.
Arun is all set to make his debut in Kannada cinema with the Puneet Rajkumar-starrer Chakravyuha, which is being helmed by Saravanan, a well known director in Kollywood. According to reports, Arun has netted a parallel role and with Puneet being a big box-office draw, the film can be expected to do well, promising a dream debut for Arun in Sandalwood.
While there are reports that Gautam Menon is ready with a story and script tailored to suit Arun, the actor is keeping his fingers crossed in the hope that his long-delayed film Vaa Deal, which has Karthika Nair as the female lead, will hit the screens soon. Arun has just launched his own banner, In Cinema Entertainment, and has observed that his production house will make only clean and purposeful films. The adventure freak who has a sky diving licence from the US Parachute Association is still awaiting his due but is supremely confident that he could break into the big league soon.