Vanitha Vijayakumar

Vanitha Vijayakumar (born 6 October 1980 ^[1]) is an Indian actress who has appeared predominantly in Tamil films and television shows.^[2][3]

Vanitha Vijayakumar
Vanitha at an event
Born	6 October 1980
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1995–1999 2013–2015 2019–present
Spouses	Akash ​ ​ (m. 2000; div. 2007)​ Anand Jayarajan ​ ​ (m. 2007; div. 2012)​ Peter Paul ​ ​ (m. 2020; div. 2021)​
Children	3
Parents	Vijayakumar (father) Manjula Vijayakumar (mother)
Relatives	Preetha Vijayakumar (sister) Sridevi Vijaykumar (sister) Arun Vijay (Half-brother)

Early life

Vanitha is the eldest daughter of Tamil actor Vijayakumar and his second wife, Tamil actress Manjula. Vanitha has two younger sisters, Preetha and Sridevi, who were former actresses. From his first marriage to Muthukannu Vellalar, Vijayakumar had three children. Actor Arun Vijay, Anitha and Kavitha are among her half-siblings.^[4][5]

In September 2018, she had a public fallout with her family after she refused to leave a family property that she had initially rented for a shoot in Ashtalakshmi Nagar. Her father, Vijayakumar, subsequently filed a police complaint against her.^[6][7]

Career

Debut in Tamil and Malayalam cinema (1995–1999)

Vanitha made her acting debut opposite Vijay in Chandralekha (1995).^[8] Vanitha subsequently appeared alongside Rajkiran in Manikkam (1996), before moving on to act in the Malayalam film Hitler Brothers (1997) and Telugu devotional fantasy film Devi (1999).^[9] After her first marriage to Akash, Vanitha quit the film industry.

Reentry into cinema (2013–2015)

Vanitha made a brief comeback to acting in the mid-2010s, and first appeared in a small role in Naan Rajavaga Pogiren (2013). She followed this up with a longer role in the comedy drama, Summa Nachunu Irukku (2013). Vanitha then chose to turn producer and make a film titled MGR Sivaji Rajini Kamal (2015), to be directed by her then-boyfriend Robert. She produced the film under the Vanitha Film Production banner, suggesting that the script of the film originated from a joke they discussed at a social gathering.^[10][11] Following the commercial failure of the film, Vanitha lodged a police complaint against distribution studio Vibrant Medias, alleging that they did not release the film in 80 cinemas as agreed in their contract.^[12] She was also rejected by most directors and didn't receive any film offers from directors, and she decided to quit acting for some time due to criticisms.

Recognition in Tamil television (2019–present)

On 2019, Vanitha appeared in the Tamil reality television show Bigg Boss Tamil 3 on Star Vijay. She was the second contestant to be eliminated from the show. After a few weeks of request from fans for Vanitha to enter the house as a wild card, they sent her again as a contestant.^[13]

In 2020, Vanitha appeared on season 1 of the Tamil Cooking show Cooku with Comali on Star Vijay and became the winner.^{[citation needed]}

She also later participated in the spin-off version show called Bigg Boss Ultimate (season 1) as a contestant.

She also appeared as a cameo appearance in the Zee Tamil soap opera Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal playing a small role in the serial.^[14]

Personal life

Vanitha Vijayakumar had married actor Akash on 10 September 2000.^[15] Their son was born in 2001 and their daughter in 2005. The marriage ended in divorce in 2005. Following a lengthy custody dispute, the Madras High Court ordered that the children split their time between both parents. Her son later moved in permanently with his grandfather and then with his father Akash.^[16][17]

In 2007 Vanitha Vijayakumar got married again, to businessman, Anand Jay Rajan. The pair has a daughter. The couple separated soon after and were officially divorced in 2012, with Rajan being awarded custody of their child. Vanitha suggested that the pair divorced as a result of her disputes with Vijayakumar, and that Rajan had effectively become indirectly involved in the controversy costing her peace and career opportunities.

Following her separation with Anand Rajan in 2010, Vanitha dated choreographer Robert beginning in 2013.^[18] The duo also worked together professionally by producing a film titled MGR Sivaji Rajini Kamal (2015), before ending their relationship in 2017.^[19]

Vanitha was a born Hindu to Tamil parents. On 30 March 2022 she converted to Buddhism following various religious rituals.^[20]

Vanitha has mentioned that she was suffering from depression for more than 10 years and that she later underwent medical treatment and professional counselling to recover fully.^[21]

^[22] In 2019, the police questioned Vanitha while she was on Bigg Boss Tamil 3 in Chennai over a complaint filed by Rajan alleging that she had kidnapped their daughter.^[22]

In 2020 she revealed that she was in relationship with Peter Paul, a photographer who was already married and a father of two children.^[23] The couple got married on 27 June 2020 in Chennai. Vanitha's marital relationship created a lot of hype in the media. Peter's first wife, Elizabeth, filed a case against Vanitha and her husband and for not getting an official divorce before marrying again. As of October 2020, Vanitha denied Peter to be named as her husband as their marriage ceremony was not yet registered and broke up the relationship with him due to his ongoing addiction to alcohol.^[24]

Off-screen work

In 2021, Vanitha officially opened up her own clothing store outlet named as Vanitha Vijayakumar Styling which is located in Chennai. She is also a part time costume designer.^[25][26]

Filmography

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

List of Vanitha Vijayakumar film credits

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes
1995	Chandralekha	Chandra	Tamil
1996	Manikkam	Savithri
1997	Hitler Brothers	Nandini	Malayalam
1999	Devi	Susheela	Telugu
2013	Naan Rajavaga Pogiren	Diana	Tamil
	Summa Nachunu Irukku	Kavitha
2015	MGR Sivaji Rajini Kamal	Ayana		also producer and writer
2023	Malli Pelli	Soumya Sethupathi	Telugu
	Aneethi	Anitha	Tamil
	Dhillu Irundha Poradu
2024	Operation Laila	Police inspector
	Haraa	Minister
	Andhagan	Lalitha
	Dhil Raja

Television

Fiction

List of Vanitha Vijayakumar television fiction credits

Year	Title	Role	Language	Channel	Notes
2000	Chinna Papa Periya Papa	Vasuki (Periya Papa)	Tamil	Sun TV
2019	Chandralekha	Herself			Cameo Appearance[citation needed] [27]
2021	Thirumathi Hitler	Rajeshwari (Rajee) and Cooking Reality show judge		Zee Tamil	Dual Cameo Appearance[28]
2022	Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal	Herself			Cameo Appearance[29]
2022, 2023	Maari	Sakunthala			Extended cameo Appearance[30]
2023	Karthigai Deepam	Chamundeshwari			Cameo Appearance[31]

Non-fiction

List of Vanitha Vijayakumar television non-fiction credits

Year	Title	Role	Language	Channel	Notes
2007	Sunday Samayal	"Microwave Cooking" Segment Host	Tamil	Sun TV
2011	Sakthi Kodu	Host		Polimer TV
2014	Stars Day Out	Guest		Puthuyugam TV
2019	Bigg Boss Tamil 3	Contestant		Star Vijay	Evicted 21 Re – Entrant Day 50 Re – Evicted 84
	Bigg Boss 3 Kondattam				Special show
2019–2020	Cooku With Comali (season 1)				Winner
2020	Kalakka Povathu Yaaru	Judge
	Start Music	Contestant			1st Runner-Up
	Nammavar Kamal	Guest
	Vanakkam Tamizha	Guest		Sun TV
	Bigg Boss 4			Star Vijay	For special tasks
2021	Cooku With Comali (season 2)				Celebration episode
	Genes (season 3)	Participant		Zee Tamil
	Kanni Theevu	Guest		Colors Tamil
	BB Jodigal	Contestant		Star Vijay	Paired with Suresh Chakravarthy Left the show
	Alitho Saradaga	Guest	Telugu	ETV	Episode 240[32]
2022	Jabardasth	Artist			Comedy TV Show
	Bigg Boss Ultimate 1	Contestant	Tamil	Disney+ Hotstar	Walked Day 24[33]
	Joker Poker	Participant		Zee Tamil	Comedy TV Show
	Vanitha Veetla Vishesham	Guest		Kalaignar TV
	Oo Solriya Oo Oohm Solriya	Participant		Star Vijay	Winner
2023	Anda Ka Kasam				Game show
	Tamizha Tamizha	Herself		Zee Tamil	Talk show

References

1. "Happy Birthday south India's queen Vanitha Vijayakumar: 5 Times Bigg Boss Tamil 3 fame hit the headlines". pinkvilla.com. 6 October 2021. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
2. "Marriage on the Cards for Vanitha Vijayakumar". The New Indian Express. 20 January 2014. Archived from the original on 7 June 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
3. "Filmography of chandralekha". Cinesouth. 21 October 1995. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012.
4. Dorairaj, S (8 February 2006). "Actor Vijayakumar returns to AIADMK". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 22 January 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
5. "Vanitha Vijayakumar's Son Vijay Sri Hari to Make His Debut in Tamil Films Soon". News18. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
6. "Vanitha Vijayakumar: Actor Vijayakumar lodges plaint against daughter | Chennai News". The Times of India. 21 September 2018. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
7. "Actor Vijayakumar and daughter Vanitha embroiled in feud over property". The News Minute. 22 September 2018. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
8. "Sarkar Diwali release: 11 other times Vijay's films released during the festival". timesnownews.com. 29 October 2018. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
9. "dinakaran". Archived from the original on 9 June 2004. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
10. Ramesh, Deepika (6 October 2014). "Producing a Film is No Child's Play: Vanitha Vijayakumar". Silverscreen India. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
11. Ramesh, Deepika (15 September 2014). "Vanitha's MGR Sivaji Rajini Kamal in October". Silverscreen India. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
12. "Tamil actor Vanitha Vijayakumar files complaint against film distributor". The Times of India. 12 May 2015. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
13. Sunder, Gautam (17 July 2019). "'Bigg Boss' Vanitha Vijayakumar about her Exit from the show". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 10 October 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
14. "Vanitha Vijayakumar joins 'Puthu Puthu Arthangal'". The Times of India. 14 May 2021. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
15. "Court documents". indiankanoon.org. Archived from the original on 24 January 2024. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
16. "Vanitha, former hubby to share son's custody". The Times of India. 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 14 August 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
17. "Vanitha Vijayakumar: Vanitha to get back her son". The Times of India. 24 December 2010. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
18. "Vanitha, choreographer Robert to marry soon". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 19 August 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
19. "Vanitha, Robert issue joint notice". 20 January 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
20. "'For Happier and Peaceful Life': Vanitha Vijayakumar on Why She Converted To Buddhism". News18. 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
21. "'Want To Vanish Moments of My Depression': Tamil Actor Vanitha Vijayakumar". News18. 13 January 2022. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
22. Kumar, Pradeep (3 July 2019). "Police grill Vanitha Vijayakumar at 'Bigg Boss' Tamil house". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 7 August 2020. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
23. "Peter Paul's first wife files a complaint against his marriage with Vanitha Vijayakumar". The Times of India. 28 June 2020. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
24. "South Newsmakers Of Week: Vanitha Vijayakumar gets married; Nayanthara, Vignesh rubbish infected of COVID 19". 29 June 2021. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
25. சென்னையில் பிரம்மாண்ட BOTIQUE துணிக்கடை ஆரம்பித்த வனிதா விஜயகுமார்..!!! மக்களுக்கு ஏதாவது செய்ய வேண்டும் வனிதா உறுதிமொழி. [Vanitha Vijayakumar started a huge BOTIQUE clothing store in Chennai..!!! Vanitha pledges to do something for the people.] (in Tamil). 2 November 2021.^{[dead link‍]}
26. "Vanitha Vijayakumar Shares Glimpses of Her First Show as Fashion Designer". News18. 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 29 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
27. "Vanitha Vijayakumar announces her TV debut with Chandralekha; see video". The Times of India. 29 October 2019.
28. Vanitha Vijayakumar: சின்னத்திரை தொடரில் மீண்டும் வனிதா விஜயகுமார் என்ட்ரி [Vanitha Vijayakumar: Vanitha Vijayakumar's entry in the iconic series again]. News18 Tamil Nadu (in Tamil). 15 February 2021. Archived from the original on 15 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
29. "Vanitha Vijayakumar joins 'Puthu Puthu Arthangal'". The Times of India. 12 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 May 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
30. "Vanitha Vijayakumar Speech at Zee Tamil New Serial Launch". 26 June 2022. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022 – via YouTube.
31. "Bigg Boss Tamil fame actress Vanitha Vijaykumar joins the cast of 'Karthigai Deepam'". The Times of India. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
32. "Alitho Saradaga: From her admiration for Jr NTR to strained relationship with family, Vanitha Vijaykumar to make some shocking revelations". The Times of India. 10 August 2021. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
33. "Bigg Boss Ultimate: Will Vanitha Vijayakumar return to the BB house?". The Times of India. 26 January 2022. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.

External links

• Vanitha Vijayakumar at IMDb