Tribute to Vivek on his Death Anniversary

Today marks the 4^th death anniversary of popular comedian and character artist, Vivek.

Born on 19 November 1961, Vivekanandhan was introduced to films by K. Balachander as a scriptwriter. While working on the script for the film Manathil Uruthi Vendum, Balachander asked him to act and shortened his name to Vivek. His role as Suhasini’s screen brother was well received and many more were to follow.

However, it was only in 1996 that Vivek gained recognition as a solo comedian and his on-screen time increased, often highlighted in the film’s posters. During this time, when Telugu films were dubbed into Tamil, the producers added a separate track for Vivek and included this in the film.

Between 2000 and 2001, Vivek signed up for three films as a lead actor, but none of these projects materialised. The success of his slightly different role in Shankar’s Boys opened the eyes of many to Vivek’s immense acting talent.

Vivek became the first comedy actor to be chosen as a brand ambassador Mirinda, for a major soft drink manufacturer.

2004 was not a good year for Vivek. He completed the shooting for his first film as lead actor – Solli Adipaen but the film was never released. An injury forced him to take a break in films and he returned in 2005 in his award-winning performance in Shankar’s Anniyan.

In the late 2000s, when separate comedy tracks were shied away from, Vivek took the advice of Kamalhaasan and director Bala and decided to concentrate on character role. He then played the lead role in the film Naanthaan Bala. This led to his second lead role in Palakaatu Madhavan.

In 2017, Vivek played himself in the film Brindavanam – a role that brought him wisespread fame and praise.

In 2019, Vivek played a retired policeman investigating seemingly unrelated crimes in Seattle in the film Vellai Pookal.

Vivek’s last film before his death was Dharala Prabhu and the first of his films to release posthumously was Aranmanai 3. Other posthumous releases were The Legend, Yaadhum Oore Yavarum Kelir and Indian 2.

He has won numerous awards including state awards for Unnaruge Naan Irunthaal, Run, Parthiban Kanavu, Anniyan and Sivaji. His roles in Run, Saamy and Perazhagan won for him the Filmfare Award for Best comedian. In 2009 he was conferred with the Padmashri award from the Government of India and with a Honorory Doctorate from Sathyabhama University

Vivek was given the freedom to write his own scenes for his films and he used this to incorporate puns and wit in a satire-based approach to acting first introduced to the Tamil screen by yesteryear comedian, N.S. Krishnan who was known as Kalaivanar. Vivek was nicknamed Chinna Kalaivanar because of the similarity of his approach to humour.

On 16 April 2021, Vivek experienced breathing problems and was admitted to hospital. Following an angioplasty, he died in hospital on 17 April 2021. He was given a state funeral and had large crowds thronging to pay their last respects.

The Greater Chennai Coropration renamed the street on which he lived as Chinnai Kalaivanar Vivek Road.

Vivek was an ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda and Abdul Kalam and tried to emulate both of them. Inspired by former President Kalam, Vivek launched a project to plant trees across India and succeeded in planting 3.300 000 saplings before his death.