 Vikram was born in a Tamil Family as Kennedy to a Christian father and a Hindu mother in Madras , Tamil Nadu , on 17 April 1966 . His father , John Victor alias Vinod Raj was a native of Paramakudi and ran away from home to start a career in films . His father however did not fare successfully , and only managed to act in supporting roles in Tamil films and television serials and this inspired Vikram to take part in theatre lessons and become professionally trained in classical and cinema dance forms to ensure he became a leading actor . Rajeshwari , Vikram 's mother , was a sub @-@ collector and her brother , Thyagarajan is an established director @-@ actor in the Tamil film industry ; with his son , actor Prashanth , being Vikram 's first cousin . Vikram has a younger sister , Anita , who is a teacher and a younger brother , Arvind , who was previously set to make his film debut in the 2008 film Saroja but eventually did not feature . Vikram is used as a screen name as he disliked his original name , Kennedy ; the name Vikram was composed by taking " Vi " from his father 's name , " K " from Kennedy , " Ra " from his mother 's name and " ram " from his sun sign , Aries . 
