Meet Aishwarya Rai’s hero who was once badly injured, doctors advised him to amputate his leg, is now a superstar, his name is…

Aishwarya Rai is one of the most celebrated actors in the industry. Over the period of time, she has starred in commercially hit films and has shared screen space not only with people from Bollywood but also from the South. Today, we will talk about Aish’s co-star who has worked with the actress in films such as Ponniyin Selvan Part 1 and Part 2. He is not just an actor but a producer too.

If you are guessing who we are talking about, then the actor in discussion is Chiyaan Vikram. In the industry, he is popularly known as Chiyaan Vikram; however, his real name is Kennedy John Victor.

Vikram started his journey with small roles in the Tamil and Telugu film industries in the early 1990s. In 1999, he gave a successful hit named Sethu. In the film, his character, Vikram, was widely praised and hence his screen name soon turned into his off-screen name as well. The film was directed by Bala and became a huge hit, making Vikram an overnight star.

Vikram’s original name was John Kennedy, which was more on the foreign name end and it did not suit South cinema. Hence, he changed his name to Vikram. He took the ‘V’ from his father’s name, Victor; the ‘K’ from his own name, Kennedy; and the ‘R’ from his mother’s name, Rajeshwari. To complete it fully, he added ‘M’, which was inspired by his zodiac sign, Aries.

Did you know that Sethu’s Bollywood remake was Salman Khan’s Tere Naam, released in 2003? National Award winner Vikram has received the Filmfare Award seven times. He has been awarded five times by the Tamil Nadu government.

In his initial days, Vikram’s career was filled with struggles. During one of the shoots, he met with an accident which injured his leg severely and he also suffered fractures. His condition was so bad that the doctors even advised amputation of his leg. However, the family members did not allow this to happen.

Media reports claim that Vikram underwent 23 operations in 3 years. It was during the treatment that he became friends with Shailja. Vikram married Shailja, a psychologist by profession, in 1992. The couple is blessed with two kids — Dhruv Vikram and Akshita.

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