Vivek (Tamil Actor)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vivek

• Vivek was a well-known South Indian actor, scriptwriter, and singer.

• He used to participate in various extra-curricular activities while he was in college.

• After completing his post-graduation, he started working as a secretariat in the Tamil Nadu government. Simultaneously, he worked as a stand-up comedian at Madras Humour Club.

• Later, the owner of the Humour Club P. R. Govindarajan introduced him to K. Balachandar (Indian film director) who asked Vivek to work as a scriptwriter in one of his films.

• In 1987, while he was working on the script of the Tamil film ‘Manathil Uruthi Vendum,’ he got an offer to play a small role in the film. He accepted the offer and played the role of the South Indian actress Suhasini’s brother.

• At the beginning of his career, he played cameo roles in various Tamil films including ‘Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal’ (1989), ‘Oru Veedu Iru Vasal’ (1990), ‘Vanaja Girija’ (1994), ‘Muthukulikka Vaariyala’ (1995), and ‘Mayabazar’ (1995).

  

• He got immense popularity by playing comic roles in various Tamil films such as ‘Anniyan’ (2005), ‘Sivaji’ (2007), ‘Velaiyilla Pattathari’ (2014), ‘VIP 2’ (2017), and ‘Dharala Prabhu’ (2020).
  

• On 6 June 2019, on the eve of environment day, he planted 10,000 plant saplings. During an interview, while talking about his project, he said,

Kalam sir gave me an assignment of planting one crore trees. I have planted 21.5 lakh trees in the past three years and next month I will complete planting three lakh more saplings. Normally when showbiz people are committed to social work, it is very difficult to sustain the momentum because of the nature of our work. For his stature Kalaam sir could have easily chosen a Shahrukh Khan or a Salman Khan, even Aamir Khan would have obliged. But I asked him, why he chose me for this assignment? He quoted a verse from Thirukkural. The gist of it means that there are missions which are to do be done by people who are most apt for the mission.”

• To promote a green environment, he had started an NGO “Go Green Initiative” of “Thuimai Arunai.” Later, under the guidance of the former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, he started the “Green Kalam Project.” He also worked for the campaign“Green Globe Project,” which is a campaign against global warming.

  

• Vivek and the South Indian actress Jyothika were selected as the brand ambassadors for the plastic-free Tamil Nadu campaign.

• He named his son Prasanna after one of his friends’ name, who worked with Vivek on the script of the Tamil film ‘Run’ (2002), and was no more alive.

• Vivek had also recorded a few songs in Tamil films.

  

• He was appointed as the brand ambassador for a few brands like Mirinda soft drinks (2003) and Nathella jewellery (2011).

• Vivek appeared in various TV commercials like Bajaj Boxer and Medimix Ayurveda.

• He passed a statement on the audio launch of the Tamil film ‘Bigil’ in 2019 which was criticized by the public. He said,

Nenjil Kudiyirukkum was a song in the 1960 movie Irumbuthirai starring Sivaji Ganesan, and the song did not have much appeal, but now this Nenjil Kudiyirukkum from Vijay has a bigger reach.” ^[4]India Glitz

• On 17 April 2021, at 4:35 am, he passed away at SIMS Hospital in Vadapalani in Chennai. On his demise, the hospital officials said,

An acute coronary syndrome with cardiogenic shock. This is a separate cardiac event. It may not be due to Covid vaccination.”

• Many popular Indian celebrities like A. R. Rahman, Radikaa Sarathkumar, Mohan Raja, and Gautham Karthik shared their condolences on his demise.