How did Chiyaan Vikram who flew high above Vijay and Ajith face a setback in his career?

Vikram, one of the most versatile actors in the South Indian film industry is now going through the most difficult phase of his career. Even though Vikram has been experimenting with his looks and scripts for the past few years, no movies of the actor, amid releasing with huge pre-release hype have succeeded to make a huge impact at the box-office. It should be noted that Vikram had continuously delivered Superhits from 2000 to 2005, and at that point of time, his star power was way ahead than reigning Superstars Vijay and Ajith Kumar.

In an industry like Kollywood where patriarchy has a pivotal role in determining the Superstardom of an actor, Vikram entered the industry through sheer hard work and determination, even though his father had acted in some small roles in Tamil movies. During the initial phases of his career, he worked as a second hero alongside Mammootty and Suresh Gopi in Malayalam movies which played a crucial role in moulding the actor's career.

The major turning point in Vikram's career happened in 1999 after the release of Sethu directed by Bala. The film became a massive critical and commercial success, and it opened the doors of superstardom for Vikram in the industry. Post-2000, Vikram delivered some box-office hits that include Dhill (2001), Kasi (2001), Gemini (2002), Dhool (2003), Saamy (2003), and Pithamagan (2003, for which he won the National Award for the Best Actor).

In 2004, Vikram delivered the biggest hit of his career with 'Anniyan', directed by Shankar. The success of 'Anniyan' became a blessing and curse for the actor, as it was at this point in time that he tried experimenting a lot on his roles and scripts. After the success of 'Anniyan', Vikram spent almost two years for 'Kanthasamy'. Even though the film racked up huge pre-release hype, it literally bombed at the box-office.

Later, he joined hands with Mani Ratnam in 'Raavanan', and this film emerged as an average grosser at the box-office. In a time period spanning from 2011 to 2018, Vikram delivered some box-office duds that include 'Rajapattai', 'Thandavam', 'David', '10 Endrathukkulla', 'Iru Mugan', 'Sketch', and 'Saamy Square'. In this period, the one and only movie that fared well at the box-office was Shankar's 'I'.

Industry experts believe that it was Vikram's wish to experiment on characters that negatively impacted his career. The actor always tried to select scripts that physically challenged him, in this quench to don different makeovers compelled him to stand away from formulaic stories that helped Ajith Kumar and Vijay to deliver industry hits.

Vikram's new movie 'Kadaram Kondan' is hitting the screens on July 19, 2019. The film is directed by Rajesh Selva, who has previously directed the movie 'Thoongavanam'. This movie is produced by Kamal Haasan and fans of Vikram believe that this flick will mark a grand comeback of the actor. However, some people believe that, due to Vikram's deteriorating star power, the film will fail to make it big at the box-office even though it receives positive reviews.