Vignesh (actor)

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title: "Vignesh (actor)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tamil-male-actors", "indian-male-film-actors", "male-actors-from-tamil-nadu", "people-from-erode-district", "living-people", "1971-births", "male-actors-in-tamil-cinema"] description: "Indian actor (born 1971)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vignesh_(actor)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Indian actor (born 1971) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Vignesh
birth_date
birth_place	Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
birth_name	Raja
occupation	Actor, businessman
yearsactive	1988–present
spouse	Uma Maheshwari
::

| name = Vignesh | image = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Erode, Tamil Nadu, India | birth_name = Raja | othername = | occupation = Actor, businessman | yearsactive = 1988–present | spouse = Uma Maheshwari

Raja (born 9 April 1971), known professionally as Vignesh, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Tamil cinema.

Career

Vignesh was selected to play the lead role in Balu Mahendra's Vanna Vanna Pookkal (1992) but he was removed from the film after working on it for seven days and was replaced by Prashanth. He made his acting debut in 1992 with the village drama film Chinna Thayee. In 1993, he acted in Amma Ponnu, Bharathiraja's Kizhakku Cheemayile and Kathir's Uzhavan. In 1995, Vignesh appeared in six films. He starred in Chellakannu, which told the tragic story of a young couple caught between feuding families, and the film performed well and ran for over one hundred days at the box office. The film had featured him alongside actress Yuvarani, as did Pasumpon, while Nadodi Mannan became a box office failure.

In the mid of 1990s, Vignesh's housemate Bala, an erstwhile assistant of Balu Mahendra wrote the script of the film Sethu, then titled Akhilan, and offered him the film's lead role. The film was shelved due to financial constraints. In 1997, director Bala restarted the project and Vignesh, who was busy with other commitments, was replaced by Vikram. In 1998, Vignesh played the lead role in J. Suresh's Velai and played a supporting role in Ravichandran's Kannedhirey Thondrinal. The following years, Vignesh played the lead role in low-budget films Pudhu Kudithanam (1999) and Nee Enthan Vaanam (2000), and played supporting roles in Suyamvaram (1999) and Appu (2000).

After a hiatus of 3 years, Vignesh made a comeback with Soori (2003). For Soori, Vignesh had to tonsure his head for 70 times. His performance received mixed reviews with critics claiming that Vignesh "tends to go slightly overboard, especially when he howls aloud in agony" and "his cries seem over the top". 2003 saw the release of his long-delayed films Ennai Thalatta Varuvala and Vani Mahal. The three films went unnoticed at box office, post-release Vignesh signed two projects titled "Ilango" and "Parithi" with both failing to proceed after launch. In 2005, Vignesh appeared in two low-budget films: Ulla Kadathal and Aadhikkam. Vignesh then produced and acted in the gangster film Aacharya (2006) and a critic stated, "for Vignesh, it is a comeback vehicle and he has done his best". He later starred as a leading actor such as Malarinum Melliya (2008), Kudiyarasu (2009) and Eesa (2009). He co-starring with Sathyaraj in Gowravargal (2010).

In 2020, he appeared in the serial with Poove Unakkaga broadcast by Sun TV. In 2021, he was seen integral role in the film Anandham Vilayadum Veedu and the serial Vaidhegi Kaathirundhaal. In 2022, the film Paasakaara Paya was released. In 2023, he was cast in Chandramukhi 2 directed by P. Vasu.

Filmography

• All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1988	En Thangachi Padichava	Fighter
1992	Chinna Thayee	Ponrasu
Annai Vayal	Sathyam's brother
1993	Amma Ponnu	Anand
Kizhakku Cheemayile	Seenu
Uzhavan	Sundaram's brother
1995	Manathile Oru Paattu	Anand
Muthukulikka Vaariyala	Chellappa
Pasumpon	Raasa
Chellakannu	Chellakannu
Nadodi Mannan	Ramesh
Mannukku Mariyadhai	Pandian
Chithirai Thiruvizha	Selvaa
1996	Take It Easy Urvashi	Subramani
Naalamkettile Nalla Thampimar	Robert	Malayalam film
Vetri Mugam	Aravind
1997	Pongalo Pongal	Subramani
Kaadhali	Gopal
Kadhal Palli	Balu
Raman Abdullah	Raman
1998	Velai	Ganesh
Kannedhirey Thondrinal	Sakthi
1999	Suyamvaram	Potential groom
Pudhu Kudithanam	Ashok
2000	Appu	Mano
Nee Enthan Vaanam	Sathya
Ninaivellam Nee	Karthik
2003	Ennai Thalatta Varuvala	Santhosh
Soori	Suriya
Vani Mahal	Arul
2005	Ulla Kadathal	Sakthi
Aadhikkam	Guru
2006	Aacharya	Yadhunandhan (Saamy)	Also producer
2008	Malarinum Melliya	Elango
2009	Kudiyarasu	Kannan
Eesa	Eesa
2010	Gowravargal	Ganesan
2013	Bhuvanakkadu	Mani Bharathi
2016	Avan Aval	Venkatakrishnan	Also producer
2018	Aaruthra	Nambi
2021	Anandham Vilayadum Veedu	Pazhanisamy
2022	Paasakaara Paya	Guna
2023	Chandramukhi 2	Ranganayagi's brother
2024	Light House
2025	Red Flower	Vicky and Michael
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Channel
2011	Appanum Aathalum		Kalaignar TV
2020–2021	Poove Unakkaga	Sakthivel	Sun TV
2020	Roja	Sakthivel
2021	Velammal	Raja Raghupathi	Star Vijay
2021–2022	Vaidhegi Kaathirundhaal	Rajarathinam
2022	Sathya 2	Special Appearance	Zee Tamil
2022–2023	Vidhya No.1	Mayandi
2023–2024	Meena	Chidambaram	Sun TV
2026–present	Kana Kandenadi	Uthaman	Star Vijay
::

References

References

1. (1994-05-22). "Vignesh | Official Site of South Indian Artists Association, Nadigar Sangam, Tamil Nadigar Sangam". Nadigarsangam.org.
2. "Kollywood Movie Actor Vignesh Biography, News, Photos, Videos".
3. Anupama Subramanian. (4 September 2018). "Why Vignesh became a baddie". Deccan Chronicle.
4. Malini Mannath. (1993-01-01). "Run-of-the-mill fare". The Indian Express.
5. "Google Groups".
6. "Rediff on the NeT, Movies: Gossip from the southern film industry".
7. (2006-11-26). "tamil cinema mottai heroes rajinikanth sivaji kamal aalavandhan vikram sethu ajithkumar red madhavan ayudha ezuthu sathyaraj amaithipadai picture gallery images".
8. "Soori in trouble ?". Mohankumars.com.
9. "SOORI". Bbthots.com.
10. (2003-12-26). ""Soori"". [[The Hindu]].
11. "Dinakaran".
12. "Ilango".
13. "Paridhi".
14. (7 July 2006). "Review : Aacharya (2006)".
15. "GOWRAVARGAL MOVIE REVIEW".
16. (10 August 2020). "Daily soap 'Poove Unakkaga' to premiere today".
17. (26 March 2022). "Marketing a film today has become important: Vignesh". The Times of India.
18. (28 September 2023). "Chandramukhi 2 review: Not a patch on the first part featuring Rajini-Jyothika".

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