Mohanlal, Mammootty and Rajinikanth’s co-star debuted at 16; suffered paralysis after botched surgery; took own life following failed relationship

While she worked with Mohanlal in movies such as Uyarangalil and Nayakan, Mammootty in Onnum Mindatha Bharya and Sayam Sandhya, Rajinikanth in Mr Bharath, and Nandamuri Balakrishna in Sahasame Jeevitham, she shared the screen with Vijayakanth again in films like Vetri, Nalla Naal, and Eetti. Viji also headlined the Malayalam 3D movie Pournami Raavil, helmed by legendary filmmaker-cinematographer A Vincent. However, by the late 1980s, offers began to decline for her, though they did not dry up completely. She took on supporting roles and made special appearances in songs to survive.

The botched surgery that changed Viji’s life

The first significant setback for Viji in life came in the form of a botched surgery that almost left her paralysed in the mid-1990s. According to an old report in The Sunday Indian, she had to undergo an operation on her spinal cord at a large private hospital in Chennai to address a persistent back problem.

Viji with Nandamuri Balakrishna in the movie Sahasame Jeevitham. (Express archive photo)

Following the surgery, she suffered from a high fever for 13 days, after which an acute infection was detected in the wound. She underwent two more surgeries and was bedridden for three years. The hospital reportedly returned Rs 30,000, which was the fee for the operation. Although she regained her mobility after a corrective surgery, she had mostly been forgotten by the industry.

Nonetheless, living up to his sobriquet of “Captain,” Vijayakanth came to her rescue and offered her a character in the movie Simmasanam, where he played a triple role. She appeared as the wife of one of the characters he portrayed. At her father’s request for more opportunities for his daughter, the star reportedly promised that he would give her a role in his subsequent movie, Vaanchinathan, as well. However, Viji didn’t wait around for that opportunity.

The heartbreak that ‘pushed’ Viji to suicide

On November 27, 2000, at the age of 34, Viji died by suicide at her Chennai apartment. While Shoba’s suicide was only speculated to have been prompted by heartbreak over her boyfriend, director-cinematographer Balu Mahendra, who reportedly tied the knot with her but never left his first wife, Viji, on the other hand, explicitly named the person who allegedly drove her to suicide. In an audio message that she reportedly left behind on the pager of a family friend, Viji stated she was taking the extreme measure as she was jilted by her lover, an already married film and television serial director, AR Ramesh, who allegedly refused to marry her.

According to an online cinema portal, following her suicide, Ramesh fled to Coimbatore but was soon apprehended. Although he claimed he never promised to marry her since he already had a wife and children, he was charged with abetment of suicide. A 2005 report in The Hindu reveals that Ramesh’s wife, AR Sumathi, and his friend, Chinnasamy, were also booked in connection with Viji’s suicide. Apparently, three days prior to her suicide, Viji and Ramesh met at an event and faced off as well. When the matter came up for hearing in a Mahila Court in Chennai, the prosecution claimed that he even abused her during the fight, and that she died by suicide by hanging, as she was unable to bear the abusive words.

Viji and co-star Suresh in the movie Ullam Uruguthadi. (Express archive photo)

However, the three of them were acquitted by the Mahila Court in July 2005. “There is absolutely no material or evidence to prove that the accused Ramesh had intentionally induced Viji to do anything which she would not have done if she was not so deceived,” the judge observed while dismissing the prosecution’s case that Ramesh promised to marry her but later refused. “There is absolutely no evidence or material to attribute motive against the accused and to hold him for any culpability,” the court mentioned, while describing Viji as a “sensitive girl who was not able to withstand the jolts of life.”

In a career spanning just 18 years, Viji appeared in around 40 films, working in the Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu industries with A-listers. Had her life taken a different course, untouched by the tragedies that struck it, she might have soared higher, or at least enjoyed a longer cinematic journey.