Vijay Antony

Some Lesser Known Facts about Vijay Antony

• Vijay Antony is an Indian actor, music composer, playback singer, film editor, and audio engineer. He is known for his work in the Tamil film industry.

• His father died when he was 7 years old and his sister was 5 years old. Following his father’s death, his mother worked as a clerk in the town planning office for their upbringing.

• A priest named Rev. Fr. Ignacimuthu sponsored his education at Loyola.

• He had a deep passion for music since childhood. Earlier he used to participate in singing competitions in his school and college days; however, he later turned it into his professional career.

• While studying at Loyola College, he took up a part-time job and training in sound engineering at a studio in Kodambakkam, Chennai.

• After completing his formal education, Antony set up an audio studio named ‘Audio Files’ and started working there as a full-time sound engineer. ^[2]Behindwoods Later, he composed jingles for various advertisements and also created background music for several television shows.

• Antony has worked with various popular sound engineers including Emmy & Selvakumar.

• He made his debut in the television industry as a music composer in season 2 of the Tamil comedy soap opera ‘Chinna Papa Periya Papa’ (2002), which aired on Sun TV.

  

• In 2005, he composed the music for the film ‘Sukran.’ He also wrote and sang the songs for the film.

• In 2006, he made a cameo appearance in the Tamil film ‘Kizhakku Kadalkarai Salai.’

• In the same year, he worked as a music director for the TV drama series ‘Kana Kaanum Kaalangal,’ which aired on Star Vijay.

• In 2007, he composed the title track of the TV show ‘Kadhalikka Neramillai,’ which was broadcast on Star Vijay.

  

• He has worked as a music director for a few more TV shows including ‘Malargal’ (2005) on Sun TV, ‘Kettimelam’ (2005) on Jaya TV, ‘Megala’ (2007) on Sun TV, and ‘Chinna Papa Periya Papa (Season 2)’ (2015) on Sun TV.

• He gained immense popularity for singing the song ‘Nakka Mukka’ for the film ‘Kadhalil Vizhunthen’ (2008). He became the first Indian to win the 2009 Cannes Golden Lion for the song in the Best Music category. The song was also played at the Cricket World Cup in 2011.

• He worked as a music director for the Tamil film ‘TN 07 AL 4777’ (2009). He also sang the song ‘Aathichudi’ for the film and also made a special appearance in the song.

  

• After making his debut as a lead actor in the film ‘Naan’ (2012), he appeared in the second sequel of the film ‘Salim’ (2014) in which he played the titular role. He also worked as a music director and playback singer for the film.

• His performance as Arul Selva Kumar in the film ‘Pichaikkaran’ (2016) received huge appreciation from the audience.

  

• In 2018, he appeared in multiple roles [Kaali (Bharath), Young Periyasamy (Samy), Young Maari,& Young John] in the Tamil film ‘Kaali.’

• Vijay Antony worked as an actor, film editor, and music director for the Tamil film ‘Thimiru Pudichavan’ (2018).

• He played the lead role of Vijaya Raghavan in the Tamil political thriller film ‘Kodiyil Oruvan’ (2021). He also worked as a film editor and playback singer for the film.

  

• Vijay Antony has worked as a playback singer for various films including ‘Dishyum’ (2006), ‘A Aa E Ee’ (2009), ‘Rasikkum Seemane’ (2010), ‘Yuvan Yuvathi’ (2011), ‘Naan’ (2012), and ‘Annadurai’ (2017).

• In 2023, he worked as an actor, film editor, and music director for the Tamil film ‘Pichaikkaran 2.’ He also made his directorial debut with the film.

• He has acted in various Tamil films including ‘India Pakistan’ (2015), ‘Saithan’ (2016), ‘Annadurai’ (2017), ‘Kolaigaran’ (2019), and ‘Tamilarasan’ (2023).

• He has worked as a music director for various films such as ‘Dishyum’ (2006), ‘Ninaithale’ (2007), ‘Vettaikaaran’ (2009), ‘Yuvan Yuvathi’ (2011), ‘Nambiyaar’ (2016), ‘Annadurai’ (2017), and ‘Iruvar Ullam’ (2021).

  

• When he started working in the Tamil film industry, he changed his name to Agni. However, the popular filmmaker and actor S. A. Chandrasekhar suggested to him that ‘Agni’ was not a lucky name after which Chandrasekhar decided to add his son’s name i.e. Vijay’s (who is a popular actor) name with Antony to create the new name.

• In 2016, Vijay Antony was criticised for the background music used in the film ‘Saithan.’ According to some reports, after the release of the film’s teaser, some Hindu religious groups were unhappy about the Sanskrit chants used as background music. In response to their concerns, Vijay Antony, who worked as both the music director and actor in the film, decided to remove the offensive lines from the teaser and release it again to show respect for their sentiments. In an interview, he talked about it and said,
  

  I heard that a few lines in the teaser of Saithan, which were written by the late lyricist Annamalai, sounded like Sanskrit verses and has hurt a few individuals. Heeding to their request, I have decided to withdraw those lines immediately.” ^[3]Deccan Chronicle

• During the shooting of the film ‘Pichaikkaran 2’ in 2023, the actor met with an accident while shooting a romantic song. In an interview, he recounted the incident and said that while he was jet skiing, his bike collided with the bike of his cinematographer and an assistant. He got injured on the face and fell unconscious in the sea. He was rescued by his co-star Kavya Thapar and a camera assistant named Arjun. ^[4]Cinema Express