Vijay Antony

Early life

Vijay Antony was born in Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District. When he entered the media and film industry, he had picked Agni as his stage name, but this was changed to Vijay by director S. A. Chandrasekhar who had commented that Agni was not lucky.

Antony was brought up by his mother after his father committed suicide when Antony was 7. He is not a trained musician, but started his career as a sound engineer and later became a music composer. After completing his tertiary education, he established an audio studio called Audio Infotainment and worked there as a sound engineer. In his early days as a music composer, he composed jingles for advertisements, and notable background scores for television shows by conducting research on sound engineering. His music composing venture in movies arrived when Oscar Ravichandran approached Antony to compose music for his film Dishyum, but his music composer debut in movies happened through Sukran, as it was released first.

Career

Composing

Vijay Antony started his composing career with the 2005 film Sukran. He was nominated for his score in the film Naan Avan Illai (2007).

Antony's songs for the 2008 film Kadhalil Vizhunthen became hits, especially the dappankuthu number Nakka Mukka. He became the first Indian music director to win a Cannes Golden Lion award, for "Nakka Mukka" (for The Times of India) in the Best of Music category. The song was later played at the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Antony composed the music to a few Tamil soundtracks in 2009, including A Aa E Ee, TN 07 AL 4777, Mariyadhai, Ninaithale Inikkum, and Vettaikaaran.

Antony had composed music for many Tamil films of the early 2010s, including Aval Peyar Thamizharasi, Uthama Puthiran, Vedi, and Velayudham.

Antony made his Telugu composing debut with Mahatma (2009) and his Kannada composing debut with Buddhivantha (2007).

Antony has composed music for most of his own acting films, including Naan (2012), Salim (2014), Pichaikkaran (2016), Saithan (2016), Yaman (2017), Annadurai (2017), Kaali (2018), Thimiru Pudichavan (2019) and Pichaikkaran 2 (2023).

Acting

Vijay Antony's acting debut was in the crime thriller Naan where he played the lead role. The film's standalone sequel titled Salim, an action thriller, was his next project as an actor, for which he also composed music.

In 2015, he starred in the romantic comedy India Pakistan, his first acting film for which he was not the music director. In 2016, he chose to star in the action thriller Pichaikkaran (2016), collaborating with his Dishyum director Sasi. It became a commercial success, with overall collections nearing 40 Crore. The Telugu dub Bichagadu was a bigger success than the original. His next was Saithan, an action thriller directed by debutant Pradeep Krishnamoorthy.

He appeared in the 2017 political action thriller Yaman directed by Jeeva Shankar, whom he collaborated with for the second time after Naan. The film released to positive reviews. His next film Annadurai in the same year was an action drama which received mixed reviews. In 2018, he starred in Kaali, a period action film directed by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi and Thimiru Pudichavan, an action film directed by Ganeshaa. In 2019, he starred in Kolaigaran, an action thriller directed by Andrew Louis and co-starring Arjun. The film opened to highly positive reviews.

Antony made his directorial debut with Pichaikkaran 2 in 2023. Vijay Antony plays the lead role of a romantic hero in Romeo (2024).

Shakthi Thirumagan is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language political drama film directed by Arun Prabhu. It marks actor Vijay Antony’s 25th film and explores themes of politics, family, and revenge.

Personal life

Antony is married to Fatima Vijay Antony, and they had two daughters, Meera and Lara. Meera, the elder daughter, committed suicide on 19 September 2023 at the age of 16 at their home in Chennai. For his films produced by Vijay Antony Film Corporation, Fatima was credited as the producer except for Romeo (2024), for which Meera was credited as the producer. She was also credited as the presenter of Shakthi Thirumagan (2025). His nephew Ajay Dhishan starred alongside him in Maargan (2025).

Antony has a well-known great-grandfather, Samuel Vedanayagam Pillai, who was a Tamil poet, novelist, and social worker and is remembered for his authorship of Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram, recognized as the "first modern Tamil novel." Vedanayagam's ideals of women's liberation and education are reflected in this novel.{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250427115536/https://www.kalaignarseithigal.com/cinema/2023/03/27/vijay-antony-is-great-grand-son-of-vedanayagam-pillai-who-is-first-tamil-novel-writer | archive-date = 27 April 2025

Filmography

Actor

As editor

As director

Discography

Music director

Playback Singer

• Touring Talkies (2015) ("Touring Talkies" song, co-sung with Vivek; Mukesh Mohamed, Sathyan Mahalingam)
• Madha Gaja Raja (2025) ("My Dear Loveru" song, co-sung with Vishal; "Nee Dhana Nee Dhana"; "Thumbakki Thumbai")

Lyricist

• Sukran (2005) ("Sukran" Theme Music and "Suppose Unnai" song)
• Dishyum (2006) ("Dailamo Dailamo" song)
• A Aa E Ee (2009) ("Mena Minuki" song)
• TN 07 AL 4777 (2009) ("Aathichudi" song)
• Kanagavel Kaaka (2010) ("Minsarame" song)
• Sattapadi Kutram (2011) ("Rathiri Nerathu Remix" and "Yedhedho" song)
• Pichaikkaran (2016) ("Pichaikkaran Theme Music" song)
• Pichaikkaran 2 (2023) ("Bikili" and "Anti Bikili Theme" song)
• Romeo (2024)

Television

• 2002 Chinna Papa Periya Papa (Season 1) (Credited as Agni) (Sun TV)
• 2005 Malargal (Sun TV)
• 2005 Kettimelam (Jaya TV)
• 2006 Kana Kaanum Kaalangal (Vijay TV)
• 2007 Kadhalikka Neramillai (Vijay TV)
• 2007 Megala (Sun TV)
• 2015 Chinna Papa Periya Papa (Season 2) (Sun TV)

Judge

References

References

1. One daughter deceased
2. "VIJAY ANTONY".
3. "Did you know, Vijay Antony's big-screen debut was not 'Naan'?".
4. Kalpagam Sarma. "'Naaka Mukka' Antony". goergo.in.
5. "Vijay Antony to Sam CS: Kollywood music directors who are celebrated less".
6. "'Nakka Mukka' catches composer by surprise".
7. (28 June 2009). "TOI wins India its first Gold Film Lions at Cannes". [[The Times of India]].
8. "Vijay Antony".
9. "Vijay Antony goes to Tollywood".
10. "Vijay Antony".
11. (January 2026). "Vijay Antony's 'Naan' trailers this Diwali}}{{Dead link".
12. "Salim".
13. "India Pakistan Review".
14. "No one will want to play a beggar in a film, but I did". The Times of India.
15. "Review : Pichaikkaran review: Entertaining! (2016)".
16. (3 November 2016). "Bichagadu total box office collection: Vijay Antony's Telugu film turns bigger success than Pichaikkaran".
17. "Saithan Preview".
18. "Review: Yaman has nothing new to say about politics, but is a fun thriller anyway".
19. "Annadurai review. Annadurai Tamil movie review, story, rating".
20. "Kaali Movie Review: Vijay Antony and Kiruthiga's thriller is interesting in parts".
21. "Thimiru Pudichavan first look: Vijay Antony plays cop in director Ganesha's film".
22. "Kolaigaran to release on June 5th". [[The Times of India]].
23. (7 June 2019). "Kolaigaran movie review: Arjun Sarja delivers a sublime performance in this gripping whodunit".
24. "Box office collection: Kolaigaran overpowers Bharat, impacts NGK business".
25. "Vijay Antony's 'Pichaikkaran 2' to release in Summer 2023".
26. "Romeo Review".
27. செய்திப்பிரிவு, நக்கீரன். (2024-03-25). "மனைவி மீது ஒரு தலைக் காதல் - விஜய் ஆண்டனியின் ‘ரோமியோ’".
28. (18 September 2025). "Shakthi Thirumagan': Vijay Antony's bold move wins praise, promises a revenge political drama".
29. (14 March 2023). "Why Latest Picture of Vijay Antony's Daughter Meera is". News18.
30. (2023-09-19). "Actor Vijay Antony's daughter allegedly dies by suicide".
31. (9 October 2023). "Fatima Vijay Antony's heartbreaking tweet after daughter Meera's death: 'If I'd known you will live only for 16 years…'".
32. (26 March 2024). "'Romeo' trailer: Vijay Antony stars as a husband on a mission to woo his wife".
33. (2024-11-23). "Vijay Antony's nephew to play villain in Gagana Maargan".
34. (10 July 2024). "Vijay Antony's 'Mazhai Pidikkatha Manithan' to release on August 2". [[Times of India]].
35. (31 August 2024). "New Release Date Announced For Vijay Antony's Hitler". Times Now.
36. Kumar, Akshay. (2025-05-14). "Vijay Antony's Maargan to release on June".
37. Mullappilly, Sreejith. (2025-07-10). "Vijay Antony's Shakthi Thirumagan gets release date".
38. (2025-09-15). "Vijay Antony-Sasi's Nooru Saami to echo the mother-son sentiment".
39. "Vijay Antony first Indian to win Cannes Golden Lion". The Times of India.
40. (27 September 2024). "New show 'Mahanadigai' set to premiere on October 5".