Hyderabad: Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami also known as Captain Vijayakanth, who founded the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam party (DMDK), died on Thursday morning, hours after the party informed that he had tested positive for Covid-19. The actor-turned-political leader had an illustrious acting career spanning over 100 films.
The Tamil cinema icon drew his stage name Captain Vijayakanth following the success of his film Captain Prabhakaran, which occupied cinema halls for about 200 days. The star actor, who has appeared in over 100 films, was affectionately referred to as Captain by his admirers. He collaborated with renowned directors and featured along with the biggest stars. Here's a list of the top ten films of the actor.
1.Sattam Oru Iruttarai: After three unsuccessful films at the start of his career, he found success with SA Chandrasekhar's Sattam Oru Iruttarai in 1981. The film's popularity established Vijayakanth as an actor. The plot revolves around a hero who desires to avenge his parents' murderers. Following its huge popularity in the south, it was dubbed in Hindi as well.
2.Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal: Vijayakanth went on to portray a soft character opposite Revathi in Vaidhegi Kaathirunthaal during the time when he was doing back-to-back action films. He became the king of B and C centres because of the film. The director of the film Sundararajan revealed a few years ago that the film's initial producers were opposed to Vijayakanth being the lead, but he aggressively supported the actor and had the film financed by another producer.
3.Amman Kovil Kizhakale: Directed by R Sundarrajan, this film earned Vijayakanth a Filmfare Award for Best Actor. The film was a commercial success, running for more than 150 days in several venues, and nearly 200 days in some others. Ilaiyaraaja composed all of the songs in the film, and they all went on to become huge hits. Radha plays the female lead opposite Vijayakanth in the film, which is one of the star's all-time hits.
4.Oomai Vizhigal: A big smash in the 1980s, the multi-starrer Oomai Vizhigal starred Vijaykanth as an old cop. Despite his limited screen time, he delivered a stunning performance. Arun Pandian, Chandrasekhar, Jaishankar, and Karthik also starred in the film. Disco Shanti also danced for a peppy number in the film, which had music by Manoj - Gyan.
5.Sendura Poove: This blockbuster featuring Vijayakanth, Ramki, and Nirosha not only became a box office success but also earned Vijayakanth his first Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor. The plot revolved around a little girl who was abused by her stepmother and how her brother's friend saved her and her husband. The film, directed by PR Devaraj, had a box office run of more than 200 days. It was one of the most successful Tamil films of 1988.
6.Pulan Visaranai: The film was mainly based on the life of Auto Shankar, an infamous serial killer. It starred Vijayakanth as a cop named 'Honest' Raj, Anandaraj played an auto driver who kidnapped young women, Radha Ravi essayed the role of a strong politician, and Sarath Kumar featured as the main villain in the film. This film, directed by RK Selvamani, is regarded as one of the best crime thrillers of all time.
7.Sathriyan: Mani Ratnam wrote and produced this film based on an honest cop and a corrupt politician. Even though the star had played cops numerous times, this was by far the greatest of them all. This film became a cult classic after becoming a smash hit in the early 1990s. Ilaiyaraaja's background soundtrack was praised and is still considered one of the best. Vijayakanth, Bhanupriya, and Revathi played the key parts in the film in the K Subash directorial.
8.Chinna Gounder: After playing macho characters in most of his films, Vijayakanth played a soft-spoken rural ruler in this film. The film was very different from Vijayakanth's previous films. It was a success and was remade in Telugu and Kannada.
9.Vanathai Pola: This film came at the end of Vijaykanth's acting career. The film, directed by Vikraman, was about a kind brother who made sacrifices to ensure the success of his three younger brothers. It starred Vijayakanth in a dual role and lead him to the National Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment the following year. Vanathai Pola went on to become the most commercially successful Tamil film, running in theatres for almost 250 days.
10.Ramanaa: Directed by AR Murugadoss, Ramanaa was Vijaykanth's last hit film before delivering a series of duds and eventually leaving the industry to enter politics. The story revolved around Ramana (Vijayakanth), who vowed to eradicate corruption with the help of his ex-students who worked in various government agencies. For this film, AR Murugadoss received the Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Best Dialogue Writer.
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