NEWS
Source-firstpost.com : February 28, 2017
Yaman box office success has further cemented Vijay Antony's place at the top of Kollywood
Kollywood is one industry where successful technicians mostly music directors turn heroes. Vijay Antony, who started his career as a music director, is today, a popular action hero. Antonys new release, the political thriller Yaman, has netted an impressive Rs 6.80 crore in its opening weekend in Tamil Nadu and is being liked by both critics and masses. Yaman marks Antony's third consecutive hit; last year he had two notable releases in Pichaikkaran (a blockbuster) and Saithan (declared a hit).
Pichaikkarans Telugu dubbed version Bichagadu
was a mega blockbuster that collected more than its original Tamil
version and created a new market for Vijay in Andhra. His first
two films in the thriller genre as solo hero Naan (2012) and its
sequel Salim (2014) too were super hits. He had only one failure
so far, in India Pakistan (2015). Says S Pictures' Srinivasan, a
leading distributor and exhibitor, Vijay Antonys strike rate at
the box office is very impressive, five out of his six films have
been hits and Pichaikkaran is one of 2016s highest collecting films
and most profitable in terms of return on investment (ROI). Today
he has an opening and if he continues to make commercial thrillers
at a reasonable price, he is here to stay. What makes Vijay Antony
tick with the masses? He is soft-spoken and keeps a low profile.
Starting his tryst with Kollywood as a music director, he has composed
chartbusters for nearly 25 films. Who can forget the iconic Kuthu
(folk) number 'Naaka Mukka' from Kadhalil Vizhunthen ? Vijay knew
the pulse of the youth audiences and had churned a lot of peppy
numbers. At one time he was there right at the top as a music director,
but his interest was to make it big as a Tamil commercial mass hero.
In fact the industry was shocked when one fine day he stopped composing
music and switched to acting. Nobody gave him a remote chance to
succeed, but today he is there among the top 10 saleable commercial
stars in Kollywood! In a recent interview with The Hindu, Antony
said: I still dont call myself an actor, leave alone a star. Im
a technician whose efforts go into hiding my limitations as an actor.
I cant shout, I cant cry convincingly, and please dont make me dance.
In short, the actor himself has confessed that he does not have
the essential qualities that go into the making of a Tamil mass
hero. He says he is trying to improve as an actor with each film.
The trade feels Antony has a market of his own, as he is very particular
about the content of his films. The characters he has chosen so
far has shades of grey. His choice of 'devilish' titles has also
created hype around his films. In Yaman too, he plays a Machiavellian
politician, who plots the fall of the villains who are kingmakers
in local politics. Antony told Firstpost, For me, the most important
thing is the story and presentation. I try to choose characters
that are ordinary but put in a tough situation and to come out of
it they have to use their brains and cunning. Just like people in
real life. The evil that they do is a result of circumstance. And
it has worked to my advantage. If I find the script exciting, I
go ahead and do it.
