User:Abishe/Vijayakanth

He had also lost several film opportunities as he was rejected by many filmmakers and producers during the early stages of his acting career, and the main reason he was ignored by the filmmakers was due to his dark skin color. He faced further humiliation when many lead actresses including Raadhika Sarathkumar, Saritha, Ambika and Radha refused to act with him due to his dark complexion during the initial phase of his career.

It was only after his success with the films Sattam Oru Iruttarai, Vaidhegi Kaathirundhaal, and Oomai Vizhigal that top actresses decided to work with him in films wholeheartedly, including the likes of Raadhika and Radha, who changed their minds after initially refusing to be paired with Vijayakanth.

He received the support of film producer and friend Ibrahim Rowther as the latter played an instrumental role in Vijayakanth's rapid rise as an actor in the mid 1980s and early 1990s. In the 1980s, he and producer Ibrahim Rowther began working together on films. Rowther reported having assisted Vijayakanth in choosing film scripts wisely in order to reach the stardom. The duo established Rowther Films in Arumbakkam especially with the intention of boosting Vijayakanth's acting career. Rowther produced films in which his friend Vijayakanth starred in the lead roles including Uzhavan Magan (1987), Poonthotta Kaavalkaaran (1988), Paattukku Oru Thalaivan (1989), Pulan Visaranai (1990), Captain Prabhakaran (1991), Bharathan (1992), Rajadurai (1993), Sakkarai Devan (1993), En Aasai Machan (1994), Gandhi Pirantha Mann (1995), Karuppu Nila (1995), Ulavuthurai (1998), Dharma (1998) and Simmasanam (2000).

Uzhavan Magan (1987) marked the first collaboration between Vijayakanth and his longtime friend Ibrahim Rowther who was a film producer. Ibrahim Rowther decided to lend a helping hand to his friend Vijayakanth by agreeing to produce Uzhavan Magan in order to promote Vijayakanth as a prominent actor in the film industry. On 21 October 1987, Vijayakanth, as the lead actor, had two theatrical releases as both Uzhavan Magan and Sattam Oru Vilayaatu were released on the same day, and coincidentally, both films became blockbusters in the box office. It became one of the rare occasions for any main lead male actor to have two high-profile releases on the same day in theaters.

His father was running a rice mill at Keeraithurai. His father was apparently worried about Vijayakanth as Vijayakanth showed less attention and less interest towards studies but was more interested in cinema. Vijayakanth grew up idolising M. G. Ramachandran and he displayed his passion towards community and societal issues at such young age. Vijayakanth then worked in rice mill owned by his father and he surprised his father with his administrative skills.

He left Madurai with the aim of gaining an opportunity to seek filmmakers guidance to pursue his passion in acting career. In 1978, Vijayakanth engaged in photo shoot in Rasi Studios located at Madurai (now known as Rasi Digital Studios) with the aim of obtaining a film acting opportunity. The photos which he took at Rasi Studios helped him to garner attention from film industry and it became a turning point in his career. Vijayakanth gave credit and acknowledgment to the chief photographer of Rasi Studios, R. Asaithambi, in a few magazine interviews, indicating that the photographs taken by Asaithambi eventually helped him earn a spot in the film industry. He then was cast in a supporting role as Rajnikanth's brother in En Kelvikku Enna Bathil (1978) by the director P. Madhavan and he received an advance of Indian Rupees 100 for the film. However, film director later replaced Vijayakanth with Ceylon Manohar for the role as Rajnikanth's brother after the director left unimpressed with Vijayakanth's screen presence.

Doorathu Idi Muzhakkam gave Vijayakanth the limelight and fame as his performance in the film was lauded by viewers and it became a turning point in his illustrious career.

Vijayakanth did not have any cinematic background as he was an outsider to the industry.