Vijaykumar (8 December 1944 – 24 August 1974) better known by his stage name Sasikumar, was an Indian actor and army officer who worked mainly in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

Early life

Sasikumar was born Vijaykumar on 8 December 1944 to Radhakrishnan and Savithri in

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. Radhakrishnan, a follower of

E. V. Ramasamy Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy (17 September 187924 December 1973), commonly known as Periyar, was an Indian social activist and politician. He was the organizer of the Self-Respect Movement and Dravidar Kazhagam and is considered the architect of ...

, worked at the National College, Tiruchirappalli as a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

professor. Vijaykumar studied chemistry at the same college, eventually graduating with a B.Sc degree.

Career

While in his third year at college, Vijaykumar joined the army and became the second lieutenant; he registered under the name "Vetriselvan", previously conferred upon him by E. V. Ramasamy. After completing his college education, he was promoted to lieutenant and went to

Patiala Patiala () is a city in southeastern Punjab, India, Punjab, northwestern India. It is the fourth largest city in the state and is the administrative capital of Patiala district. Patiala is located around the ''Qila Mubarak, Patiala, Qila Mubar ...

. During the

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

of 1962, he took over the leadership of the Button Bearing Division and won the President's Medal of Valour for driving out soldiers without using the bearings in the war. He later went to Madras (now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

) after being relieved of his military service, married Sasikala and founded a theatre troupe, acting in many of his plays. When filmmaker

A. P. Nagarajan Akkamappettai Paramasivan Nagarajan (24 February 1928 – 5 April 1977) was an Indian film director, producer, actor and writer who set a trend in film making in Tamil cinema from 1965 to 1977. Film career Nagarajan started his own drama co ...

saw one of those plays and was impressed with Vijaykumar's performance, he cast him in ''

Thirumalai Thenkumari ''Thirumalai Thenkumari'' () is a 1970 Indian Tamil-language film written and directed by A. P. Nagarajan. Inspired by the 1969 film ''If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium'', it features an ensemble cast consisting of Sivakumar, Kumari Padmin ...

'' (1970), making it Vijaykumar's film debut; Vijaykumar adopted the stage name Sasikumar, partly inspired by his wife. He went on to act in numerous successful films, including ...''Aval!'', ''

Kasethan Kadavulada ''Kasethan Kadavulada'' () is a 1972 Indian Tamil-language heist comedy film written and directed by Chithralaya Gopu. The film stars Muthuraman and Lakshmi, with M. R. R. Vasu, Thengai Srinivasan, Srikanth, Moorthy, Manorama, Rama Prabha ...

'' (both 1972), '' Arangetram'', ''

Bharatha Vilas ''Bharatha Vilas'' ( ) is a 1973 Indian Tamil-language film co-written and directed by A. C. Tirulokchandar. It stars Sivaji Ganesan and K. R. Vijaya. The film features an ensemble cast, with prominent actors from other languages playing guest ...

'', ''

Rajapart Rangadurai ''Rajapart Rangadurai'' () is a 1973 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by P. Madhavan. It stars Sivaji Ganesan and Ushanandini. The film was released on 22 December 1973. Plot ''Rajapart Rangadurai'' narrates the life journey of a th ...

'', ''

Suryagandhi ''Suryagandhi'' () is a 1973 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by Muktha Srinivasan. It stars Jayalalithaa and Muthuraman, with Savithri, Cho Ramaswamy, Moulee, CID Shakuntala and Manorama in supporting roles. The film was released on 27 ...

'' (all in 1973), and ''

Vellikizhamai Viratham ''Vellikizhamai Viratham'' ( ) is a 1974 Indian Tamil-language devotional film, directed by R. Thyagarajan in his debut and produced by Sandow M. M. A. Chinnappa Thevar under Dhandayudhapani Films. The film stars Sivakumar, Jayachitra and Jay ...

'' (1974).

Death

Sasikumar was leaving for a

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

public meeting when Sasikala was caught in a fire when she lit cooking gas in the kitchen. When Sasikumar tried to save his wife from the fire, a fire spread on her. Both were taken to Royapettah Hospital. However, both died on 24 August 1974. They had two children at the time, a six-year old daughter and a four-year old son, who were subsequently raised by their grandmother. His son Vijayasarathy was a Sun TV anchor who hosted many successful programs in the 1990s and 2000s.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sasikumar 1944 births 1974 deaths Actors in Tamil theatre Deaths from fire Indian Army officers Male actors from Tamil Nadu