He also earned widespread critical acclaim for diverse roles of disadvantaged people in Kasi (2001), Samurai (2002) and Pithamagan (2003); the lattermost won him the National Film Award for Best Actor.

[6] His father, John Victor (alias Vinod Raj) was a native of Paramakudi who left his home to start a career in films, but worked only in minor roles.

Her brother, Thiagarajan, is an established director-actor in the Tamil film industry; he is the father of actor Prashanth, making him Vikram's first cousin (although the two have never openly acknowledged this relationship).

[10] He has mentioned that he used his opportunities at school well by taking part in karate, horseback riding and swimming and noted that such early exposure to activities gave him confidence as a youngster.

[12] Despite expressing his interest to join films after school, his father forced him to go through education and Vikram subsequently graduated from Loyola College, Chennai with a degree in English Literature and worked halfway towards an MBA programme.

[13][10] Through the prolific dramatics club, Vikram appeared in stage productions including college adaptations of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial and Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, receiving best actor awards for his performances.

[12] After winning a Best Actor Award at a function held at IIT Madras, Vikram was hit by a truck during a ride on his motorbike on the way home and suffered a serious leg injury.

[15] Vikram began his professional career by modelling in advert films for brands including Chola Tea, TVS Excel and Alwyn watches as well as appearing in a six episode television serial titled Galatta Kudumbam, which aired between November and December 1988.

[16] Vikram made his film debut in 1990 by appearing in En Kadhal Kanmani, a small-budget love story featuring him alongside Rekha Nambiar, with Sridhar's Thanthu Vitten Ennai, opposite Rohini being his next release.

[20] A brief return to Tamil films also proved unsuccessful, with his role in Vikraman's multi-starrer Pudhiya Mannargal, with music composed by A. R. Rahman turning out to be a commercial failure.

[25] He also refused opportunities to take part in film events as a backing dancer, with actor Sriman revealing that Vikram was "one amongst not many" who was not interested in travelling to Canada to participate in such shows.

[24] He turned down an opportunity from a friend to take up a job in technology and attempted to stay in the industry by directing a serial titled Mounam Pesiyadhey, with Ameer as his assistant director.

[12] Sethu finally released in December 1999 and initially began running at a single noon show at a suburban theater, but gradually gained an audience through word-of-mouth publicity.

[50] He also featured in the romantic film Kadhal Sadugudu, with Priyanka Trivedi which was a critical and commercial failure, with reviewers claiming that "there are times you wish Vikram were a little more brisk and dynamic" in regard to his performance.

[55] Later that year, he starred in Bala's crime drama Pithamagan, alongside Suriya, Sangeetha and Laila, playing the role of Chitthan, a gravedigger with autism spectrum disorders.

He did not have any dialogue in the film and the actor's acting muscles were stretched as he had to use body language and facial expressions to convey his feelings and thoughts, with Vikram also applying the make-up for the character himself.

[24][38] The film received highly positive reviews upon release, with a critic from The Hindu calling it a "symphony on celluloid", while noting that it will be a "milestone in Vikram's career" and "he carves a niche for himself in the viewer's mind with his expressions and excellent body language".

[60] The film featured him as a character suffering from dissociative identity disorder with three distinct personae: a meek lawyer, a suave fashion model and a psychotic serial killer.

The critic cited that "emotions of love, animus, anguish and joy dance on his face in quick succession", concluding that "Vikram lifts the role to an admirable level".

Baradwaj Rangan, writing for The New Indian Express rated the film 4/5 and said: "Raavan falls for Sita (and vice versa) in an intriguingly idiosyncratic take on the Ramayana – if you can get past the lead performances, that is".

[86] Whereas, Taran Adarsh, writing for Bollywood Hungama rated it 1+1⁄2 out of 5 and said: "On the whole, Raavan is a king-sized disappointment, in terms of content" though mentioning that Vikram was "first-rate, although the role isn't substantial enough".

[94] The film, which also featured Sara Arjun, Anushka Shetty and Amala Paul in supporting roles, opened to predominantly positive reviews from critics and enjoyed commercial success at the box office.

[95] The reviewer from The Deccan Chronicle described that the film was "Vikram's show all the way" and that "his rendition of a mentally-challenged man trying to cope with the everyday realities of raising a child is a work of art", praising his "fiery, complex performance as one of the more viciously honest depictions of mental illness cinema has seen".

[106] He changed his physique by eating small meals of egg whites and apples instead of regular food intake, while engaging in an intensive weight loss regimen to become thin.

A critic from Sify.com however, noted that Vikram "breathes life to his role and his energy level is highly infectious", adding that "the way he smiles, dances and fights is a treat for his fans".

In Ponniyin Selvan 2 Vikram reprised the role of Aditya Karikalan achieving cult status for his intense and emotional portrayal as the Chola prince winning him the Best Actor at Filmfare, SIIMA and IIFA awards.

Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute noted "A fantastic Vikram makes PS-2 a worthy sequel" [128] The film was a huge success at the box office collecting over 345 crores.

In 2000, Vikram and actress Meena launched a pop album titled Kadhalism, which the pair would sing and appear in music videos for, although the project was completed without much promotion.

[145] Soon after, he announced two further social projects, "Karka Kasadara" and "Patchai Puratchi", with the former being to identify school and college dropouts and help them to stand on their own feet, while the latter was about planting trees with an aim to make Chennai go green.

In 2011, the media widely reported that Vikram was awarded an honorary doctorate from Università Popolare degli Studi di Milano (People's University of Milan) in the field of Fine Arts.