Tamil Heroes Who Started Out As Supporting Cast

Vivek is a well-known comedy actor of tinsel town. His career started as a supporting actor. Vivek’s debut movie was ‘Manathil Urudhi Vendum’ where he played the role of Suhasini’s (heroine) brother. His immediate next was ‘Puthu Puthu Arthangal’ where he essayed the role of a secretary. “Innaiku setha nalaiku pal” was a famous dialogue Vivek utters in this film which made him popular in K - town. Vivek’s first movie as hero was ‘Naan Than Bala’ which was directed by Kannan and produced by J. A. Lawrence. This movie did not fare well at the box office.

Arvind Sammy’s debut movie was Mani Rathnam’s ‘Thalapathy’ where he played the supporting role as Rajini’s brother. Following this movie, the actor made his lead performances in Mani Rathnam’s award winning films ‘Roja’ and ‘Bombay’. The actor is now a leading hero in Tamil. Some of his hit movies in Tamil are ‘Minsara Kanavu’, ‘Indira’ and ‘En Swasa Katre’ and the list continues.

Actor Shiva, popularly known as ‘Mirchi’ Shiva, started his career in Tamil film industry through uncredited roles. Shiva’s first performance in Tamil was in ‘12B’ which stars Shaam, Simran and Jyothika in the lead roles. No one wouldn't have even noticed Shiva in ‘12B’. He appears for few scenes in the film as a co-worker of Shyaam. He gets the chance of delivering few dialogues in this film. Shiva became popular only after the prominent roles he acted in ‘Chennai 28’ and ‘Saroja’. Through ‘Tamizh Padam’, Shiva became a hero in Kollywood. This movie earned him rave reviews from critics and audiences. ‘Tamizh Padam’ which was a complete comedy genre gave Shiva a turning point in his career. After this movie he gave few more ventures like ‘Thillu Mullu’, ‘Ya Ya’ and ‘Vanakkam Chennai’ where he played the lead roles.

Vidharth became popular in Tamil cinema only after his remarkable performance as hero in ‘Myna’. Before ‘Myna’, Vidharth has appeared in more than 10 Tamil movies as supporting character. Even though he appeared in hit flicks like ‘Minnale’, ‘Sandakozhi’ and ‘Kurvi’, his role was not prominent in such movies. ‘Myna’ was a huge hit for Vidharth and his performance was appreciated by critics and audiences from all corners. This movie won him two awards namely ‘Vijay Award for Best Debut Actor’ and ‘Norway Tamil Film Festival Award for Best Actor’. The below video clip is from Kurvi.

Santhanam started his career as a comedian appearing on Television shows and gradually moved to Kollywood. He played uncredited roles in his first two movies which are Kunal starrer ‘Pesadha Kannum Pesume’ and Simbu starrer ‘Kadhal Azhivathillai’. Very soon he became a prominent comedian in tinsel town through his timely and hip tickling dialogues. Santhanam became hero through his film ‘Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham’ which was directed by Srinath. This movie was produced by Santhanam along with PVP cinema. This was a good entertainer and it received good reviews from critics and audiences. The comedian turned hero’s second film was ‘Inimey Ippadithaan’ which was directed by ‘Lollu Sabha’ fame Muruganand and produced by Santhanam himself. ‘Inimey Ippadithaan’ minted 4 crores in 3 days and it was a hit at the box office. This comedian cum hero has few more films in his in store playing lead roles which are yet to be released.

Jai debuted in Vijay’s ‘Bagavathi’. As Vijay’s brother, this film gave him a good opening in Tamil cinema. ‘Subramaniapuram’ was his first movie as a lead. This movie was directed by M.Sasikumar. ‘Subramaniapuram’ was a blockbuster hit and it won the Filmfare award for best film. This film gave Jai a good recognition in Kolywood. Following this movie, Jai made lead performances in many Tamil films like ‘Aval Peyar Thamizharasi’ & ‘Vaamanan’ to name a few. Jai is now a prominent hero in Tamil cinema.

Premji Amaran, son of Gangai Amaran, is a famous film composer, playback singer, song composer and actor. Premji made his debut performance in ‘Kanda Naal Mudhal’ which was directed by Mani Ratnam’s assistant Priya. He just made a cameo appearance in this movie. His next movie was ‘Vallavan’ in which he played the role of Simbu’s friend. ‘Maanga’ which was released recently (11th September 2015) was Premji’s first film where he took the lead role. This comedy science fiction was directed by débutante RS Raja. This movie did not fare well at the box office as expected.

Vijay Sethupathi started his career in Tamil cinema as a junior artist. His first film was ‘M. Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi’ where he sits in the middle of the crowd in a boxing competition. After this he started doing supporting roles in movies ‘Pudhupettai’ along with Dhanush and ‘Bale Pandiya’ which stars Vishnu Vishal in the lead. Vijay Sethupathi’s first performance as lead was ‘Thenmerku Paruvakaatru’ which directed by Seenu Ramasamy. This movie won National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil. However, it was the horror flick ‘Pizza’ which brought Vijay Sethupathi to limelight. After ‘Pizza’, Vijay Sthupathi acted in many blockbusters such as ‘Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kaanom’, ‘Soodhu Kavvum’, ‘Orange Mittai’. This skilful actor is famous for the unique character he takes in movies. Vijay Sethupathi has now become one of the prominent heroes of K-town.

Before Vimal became a hero, he played many cameos in hit films like ‘Ghilli’, ‘Kuruvi’ and ‘Kireedom’. In Vijay’s ‘Ghilli’, Vimal is seen as one among the many friends of Vijay and in ‘Kuruvi’ he comes as one of the refugee in the villain’s camp. Vimal’s first film as hero was Pandiraj’s ‘Pasanga’. This film was a block buster hit and won Best Feature Film in Tamil in 57th National Film Awards. After this movie, Vimal starred in many films as hero like ‘Kalavani’, ‘Sillunu Oru Sandhippu’ and ‘Desingu Raja’ to name a few.

Bobby Simha is a well-known actor in Kollywood. This talented actor started his career as aby taking supporting roles. In his first movie ‘Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi’ he just made a brief appearance as Siddharth’s college senior. And within a short span of time, the actor became popular through his excellent performance in ‘Soodhu Kavvum’, ‘Neram’ and ‘Jigarthanda’. In fact, the film ‘Jigarthanda’ won him National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. ‘Urumeen’ is a thriller film which stars Bobby Simha in the lead role. This venture is directed by débutante Sakthivel Perumalsamy.