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Vijaya Kumar
Vijaya Kumar
Born	B. R. Vijay Kumar; 20 January 1974 (age 50); Kumbaranhalli, Karnataka, India
Occupations	Actor; film director;
Years active	2004–present
Spouses	Nagarathna Vijay (m. 1999; div. 2013); Keerthi Pattadi (m. 2016);
Children	4

B. R. Vijay Kumar, professionally known as Duniya Vijay and Duniya Viji, is an Indian actor and film director known for his work in Kannada films. As an actor, he began his career playing small roles until he got his big break in Duniya (2007).^[1] He is noted for his performances in Chanda (2007), Junglee (2009), Johny Mera Naam Preethi Mera Kaam (2011) and Jayammana Maga (2013). He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, one Karnataka State Film Award and one SIIMA Award.^[2]

Career

Vijay began his career in films with a role in Yograj Bhat's Ranga SSLC with Sudeep. He then appeared in Monalisa, Jogi, Shree and Ee Rajeev Gandhi Alla, and also accepted roles in television.^[3]

The turning point in Vijay's career came with his friend Soori's directorial debut Duniya. Vijay was cast as a kind, naive village boy who falls into the hands of underworld goons who use him as a henchman. His acting won him positive reviews from critics.^[4] Vijay went on to win the State and Filmfare awards for his role in the film.

In 2007, Vijay appeared in Yuga, Chanda and Geleya. Yuga is an action-oriented film that is similar to Duniya but it was not a box-office success. Vijay took a supporting role in Geleya when Prakash Rai^[5] suddenly left the film.

In Chanda, which was directed by S. Narayan, who had supposedly agreed with Vijay to release the film six weeks after Yuga to avoid a clash. Narayan did not keep this promise, for which Vijay refused to dub for the film. The matter was settled with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce (KFCC), which imposed a year-long ban on Vijay.^[6] After the intervention of KFCC elders, the ban was revoked and Vijay was eligible to work on other movies. Chanda was a commercial success at the box office, and especially at B&C centres.^{[citation needed]}

Vijay did a semi-art film Avva for Kavita Lankesh at the start of 2008.^[7] Vijay won accolades for a bravura performance, but the film did not do well. He was then seen in Sumana Kittur's Slum Bala towards the end of 2008, which also did average business.^[8] The consensus was that both films lacked action, which was Vijay's forte.

In 2009, Vijay appeared in action-oriented films, such as MR Ramesh's Thaakath and Junglee, which was directed by Soori, and Sadhu Kokila's Devru.^[9]^[10] Vijar appeared in three films in 2010, one of which, Kanteerava, had average business and reviews.^[11] The other two, Shankar IPS and Kari Chirathe, were box-office failures.^[12]^[13] The following year, he appeared in successful and critically acclaimed films Jarasandha, Johny Mera Naam Preethi Mera Kaam and Veerabahu.^[14]^[15]^[16]

In 2012, Vijay starred in the critically acclaimed Bheema Theeradalli which also had commercial success. Vijay was lauded for his performance in the movie.^[17] In early 2013, the film Rajanikantha was released and it was a disaster at the box office.^[18] His subsequent release Jayammana Maga, a psychological thriller and his first production venture under his company "Duniya Talkies", attracted positive critical reviews and his performance was noted.^[19] He did his own stunts in this movie like in many of his other films, including Duniya.^[20]^[21] His next movie Shivajinagara was an average box-office performer. In 2014, his only movie was Simhadri. In 2015, he appeared in Jackson, Rx Suri, and Ring Road, which were hits, but Cobra was delayed.^[22]

In 2016, Vijay's first release was Yogaraj Bhat's much-hyped film Dana Kayonu, in which he starred alongside Priyamani. The film was a commercial success and resurrected his career.^[23] His next release was Nagashekar's Masti Gudi, which made little impact at the box office.^[24]

The film Kanaka was released after Masti Gudi. After the film's success he appeared in Johnny Johnny Yes Papa (2018), a sequel to their previous venture Johny Mera Naam Preethi Mera Kaam (2011) that was produced under Vijay's company Duniya Talkies.^[25]

In 2021, Vijay appeared in the adult-oriented film Kusti with his son, and his own directorial debut Salaga.^[26]

Controversies

On 6 November 2016, while filming the climax fight scene for Masti Gudi, two stuntmen playing the villains Anil and Uday, along with Vijay, jumped from a helicopter into Thippagondanahalli Reservoir. While the two stuntmen drowned, Vijay was rescued by the film crew.^[27] Following this incident, the KFCC imposed a ban on Vijay, director Nagashekar and stunt choreographer Ravi Varma until further notice.^[28] In April 2017, police filed criminal charges against several members of the production crew but did not file charges against Vijay.^[29]

On 24 September 2018, Vijay was arrested after he was alleged to have assaulted and abducted his friend, a gym trainer.^[30]

Filmography

Key
†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2004	Ranga SSLC	Henchman	Uncredited role
2004	Monalisa	Dhyan's classmate
2005	Rishi	Drug peddler
	Rakshasa	Thambi Palani
	Giri	Henchman
	Mental Manja	Angry man
	Jogi	Prisoner
	Deadly Soma	Babaraj's henchman
2006	Shree	Shetty's henchman
	Ambi	Ambi's friend
	Kallarali Hoovagi	Bedara Paapu
2007	Ee Rajeev Gandhi Alla	Bikku
	Duniya	Shivalinga a.k.a. Shivu	Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Kannada Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor
	Sri Kshethra Kaivara Thathayya	Villager	Cameo
	Guna		Cameo
	Yuga	Yuga
	Geleya	Vijay	Special Appearance
	Chanda	Kariya
2008	Avva	Bedara Manja
2008	Slum Bala	Bala
2009	Junglee	Prabhakar
	Thaakath	Basya
	Devru	Devru	Also playback singer
2010	Shankar IPS	Shankar Prasad
	Kari Chirathe	Madesh
	Kanteerava	Kanteerava
	Aithalakkadi	Himself	Guest appearance
2011	Veera Bahu	Veerabahu
	Johny Mera Naam Preethi Mera Kaam	Johnny
	Jarasandha	Krishna Murthy "Jarasandha"
2012	Bheema Theeradalli	Chandya	Suvarna Critics Award for Actor
2012	Rajanikantha	Rajani / Kantha	Dual Role
2013	Jayammana Maga	Naga
2013	Kariya Kan Bitta		Cameo
2014	Shivajinagara	Ramu
2014	Simhadri	Simhadri
2015	Jackson	Jackson
	Daksha	Daksha
	RX Soori	Soori
	Ring Road	Khan
2016	Dana Kayonu	Kempu / Docomo
2017	Masti Gudi	Maasthi
2018	Kanaka	Kanaka
2018	Johnny Johnny Yes Papa	Johnny
2021	Salaga	Vijay	Also director; Filmfare Award for Best Director – Kannada^[31]
2023	Veera Simha Reddy	Pratap Reddy	Telugu film; SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role – Telugu
2024	Kotee	Kotee's father	Cameo appearance
2024	Bheema	Bheema	Also director^[32]