Vikram Prabhu

Vikram Prabhu is an Indian film actor working in Tamil language films who made his debut in Prabhu Solomon's Kumki (2012). He is the son of Prabhu Ganesan and grandson of the actor Sivaji Ganesan.

Career

Vikram studied in San Diego, completing an MBA programme, and briefly returned to Chennai to help out in the production activities of his family's Sivaji Productions venture, Chandramukhi (2005).^[1] Vikram Prabhu also had a stint in a theatre,while he was working for a degree at San Diego State University.^[2] He went on to gain further experience by assisting Vishnuvardhan in Sarvam (2009), before once again assisting in the production works of Aasal (2010).^[3]

In February 2011, he received media coverage for the first time when Sivaji Productions refused to part with the title Deiva Magan when the makers of Deiva Thirumagal had approached them, stating that they had agreed terms with director Ameer Sultan to direct a film which would launch Vikram Prabhu under that title.^[4] However due to the Ameer's commitment to making Aadhi Bhagavan, the film was delayed and in June 2011, it was announced that Prabhu would star in Prabhu Solomon's next venture to be produced by N. Linguswamy. Titled Kumki, the film was based on elephants and the director thus sent Vikram to an elephant training camp in Ottapalam in Kerala to get himself accustomed to the animals. The film released in December 2012 to critical acclaim and commercial success, emerging as one of the biggest hits of the year.^[5][6] A critic stated that Prabhu excels in the "intensely emotional scenes in the climax", while that "he is also at ease portraying angst, gratitude and rage". Furthermore the critic wrote that "his physique is a major plus", giving the verdict that he "is expected to carry on the Ganesan family lineage" in films.^[7]

During the making of Kumki, Vikram Prabhu began work in Sattam Oru Iruttarai, a remake of the 1981 film of the same name, produced by Vijay. He began filming and played the role of an angry young man who feels that the legal system is flawed. The film, which began production in May 2012 was directed by Sneha.^[8] However the insistence of Prabhu Solomon to reshoot the climax of Kumki, led to the actor leaving Sattam Oru Iruttarai during production and after a period of delay he was replaced by newcomer Thaman Kumar. Subsequently, he signed on to appear in M. Saravanan's action thriller film Ivan Veramathiri and portrayed the role of a student amongst an ensemble cast also featuring Vamsi Krishna and Ganesh Venkatraman. The film opened in December 2013 to positive reviews, with a critic noting that Vikram Prabhu "is convincing as an action hero, especially in the raw and realistic climax fight scene but has to work on his dance a bit more."^[9][10]

He is currently filming simultaneously for two projects, both set for release in the first half of 2014. Gaurav's Sigaram Thodu, a family action entertainer, will feature the actor in two distinct looks and features him alongside Sathyaraj and Monal Gajjar. Meanwhile Arima Nambi is directed by debut director Anand Shankar and has Priya Anand in the cast.^[11] The actor has also agreed terms to star in Sathyasivan's Thalappakatti, a remake of the 2012 Malayalam film Ustad Hotel, which will be produced by Raadhika Sarathkumar.^[12]

Personal life

He is the son of Prabhu and grandson of Sivaji Ganesan. His family has a production house , Sivaji Productions. His uncle Ramkumar Ganesan is also a producer. Vikram Prabhu married Lakshmi Ujjaini, daughter of industrialist M. S. Madhivanan in Chennai on 23 February 2007.^[13]

Filmography

References