Vignesh Shivan, also known as Vicky, is an Indian director, actor, writer, producer, and lyricist. He prominently works in Tamil cinema. He is well-known for being the Husband of the Indian film actress and producer Nayanthara, who mainly works in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. In the 2012 film, ‘Podaa Podi’, he started his career as a director and writer by writing the film and directing it. He was also cast in the film as an actor in a cameo role.
Wiki/Biography
Vignesh Shivan was born on Wednesday, 18 September 1985 (age 36 years; as of 2022) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He went to Santhome Higher Secondary School in Mylapore, Chennai.
A childhood picture of Vignesh with his mother
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Vignesh Shivan belongs to a Tamilian family in Chennai.
Vignesh with his mother, father and fiancee
Parents & Siblings
Both of his parents are police officers. His father, Late Sivakozhundhu worked as a superintendent and his mother, Meena Kumari is a retired inspector at Vadapalani police station. He has a sister whose name is Aishwarya.
Vignesh with his mother and sister, Aishwarya
Wife
On 9 June 2022, he got married to Nayanthara at a resort in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu.
Relationships/Affairs
In 2015, a Tamil comedy action film was released named, ‘Naanum Rowdy Dhaan’. This movie was written and directed by Vignesh Shivan in which Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara were cast for the lead roles. Vignesh and Nayanthara met on the set of ‘Naanum Rowdy Dhaan’ and they started dating each other in 2015. Later in 2021, they announced their engagement and arranged a private ceremony. While talking about her engagement and plans for marriage, she said,
It was my engagement ring. We are private people so we didn’t want to have a grand ceremony. When we decide to get married, we will definitely inform our fans. Our engagement happened in the presence of our immediate family members. We haven’t decided on our wedding yet.”
Vignesh with his fiancee, Nayanthara
Career
Director
Vignesh directed his first film, ‘Podaa Podi’ in 2012, which was a musical romantic comedy short film. Some sources say that it took him four years to complete the film. The second film that he wrote and directed was ‘Naanum Rowdy Dhaan’ for which he received his first award as a director. After that, he gained recognition and worked with some famous actors like Suriya in the film ‘Thaanaa Serndha Koottam’ in 2018. In 2020, he also directed a drama web series in the Tamil language named ‘Paava Kadhaigal’. He is directing the movie ‘AK62’ in which Ajith Kumar is playing the male lead, who is dubbed as AK62 by his fans.
Poster of the first film ‘Podaa Podi’ written and directed by Vignesh
Actor
In 2007, Vignesh debuted as an actor in the Tamil horror film ‘Sivi’. He was chosen for the role of a cameo appearance in the 2012 film ‘Podaa Podi.’ In 2014, he did a cameo in the Tamil film ‘Velaiyilla Pattathari’ in which he played the role of an engineer.
Poster of film ‘Sivi’
Lyricist
Vignesh is also a lyricist and has written songs for many movies. He wrote three songs, ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna,’ ‘Maattikittenae,’ and ‘Un Paarvaiyilae’ for his debut movie as a director, ‘Podaa Podi.’ In 2012, a Tamil song was directed by him titled ‘Love Anthem.’ He has also directed music videos for several Tamil songs including ‘Chancey Illa,’ and ‘Aakko.’ Some songs that are singles for Valentine’s Day like, ‘Avalukena’ (2017), ‘Julie’ (2018) and others.
Producer
He has contributed to the movies as a producer. Some of the movies which are produced by him are Netrikann (2021), Kaathuvaakula Rendu Kaadhal (2022), Pebbles (2022) and more. In 2018, he founded a new production house, ‘Rowdy Pictures Private Limited’ in partnership with his fiancee, Nayanthara. Their production house has produced two movies titled, Pebbles (2021) and Rocky (2021). Pebbles won Tiger Award at the 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Controversies
Police Case Filed Against Vignesh Shivan
On 22 March 2022, an FIR was filed against director Vignesh Shivan and actress Nayanthara. The complaint filed against them stated that the name of their production company ‘Rowdy Pictures’ promotes Rowdies and Rowdism while police are trying to stop such cases as much as possible. It is said that after the success of the film ‘Naanum Rowdydhan’ which was directed by Vignesh and Nayanthara was cast in it as the lead actress, they named the production house Rowdy Pictures.
Complaint Against ‘Rowdy Pictures’ for Exploding Fireworks
In 2022, a case was filed against the production house ‘Rowdy Pictures’. The case was filed on the basis of claims made by people that disturbance was created by the production house while exploding fireworks. Reports say that to celebrate the declaration that Vignesh is going to direct actor Ajit Kumar’s next movie ‘AK62,’ all those fireworks exploded. It was also said Vignesh himself was a part of bursting crackers and creating noise.
Awards & Achievements
- SIIMA Award for Best Director for film ‘Naanum Rowdydhaan’ in 2015
- SIIMA Award for Best Lyricist for ‘Thaanaa Serndha Koottam’ in 2019
Vignesh with SIIMA Award
- Behindwoods Gold Mic Music Award in 2019
Vignesh with Behindwoods Gold Mic Award
- Tiger Award for film ‘Pebbles’ at 50th International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2021
Vignesh posted this picture with Tiger Award on Instagram
Favourites
- Sport: Cricket
- Player: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
- IPL team: Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
- Filmmaker: Quentin Tarantino
- Singer: A. R. Rahman
Net Worth
$44 million
Facts/Trivia
- The well-known actor Silambarasan Thesingu Rajendar, also known as S.T.R. or Simbuwas Vignesh’s senior in school.
- His zodiac sign is Virgo.
- Vignesh was featured on the cover page of Galatta Cinema magazine in 2018.
Vignesh on the cover page of Galatta Cinema magazine
- He considers Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is a popular Indian cricketer, as his role model.
Vignesh with his icon, Mahendra Singh Dhoni
- He has 2.1 million followers on Instagram and 775k followers on Facebook.
