When casting for
Kaaka Muttai (2015), director
M. Manikandan picked Vignesh, hailing from the fishermen community, for a leading role in the film. He was spotted in Kasimedu playing in a slum near the beach, when he was photographed by Manikandan - who then later approached his parents. The film's storyline revolves around two slum children of Chennai, whose desire is to taste a pizza, with Vignesh and fellow newcomer
Ramesh cast as brothers. The film opened to widespread critical acclaim praising the performances of the cast members, storyline, screenplay, direction and other major technical aspects. It was further considered one of the "25 Greatest Tamil Films of the Decade" by
Film Companion; the same website ranked the actors Vignesh and Ramesh's and
Aishwarya Rajesh's performance as two of the "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade".
Kaaka Muttai won the
National Award for
Best Children's Film and
Best Child Artist, for the actors Ramesh and Vignesh, at the
62nd National Film Awards. Vignesh later went on to work with
Samuthirakani in
Appa (2017) and
Nayanthara in the drama,
Aramm (2017). Despite the success of his first film, several of Vignesh's subsequent ventures were lower in profile. In 2017, a film titled
Kuzhali was announced, where he would portray the lead role alongside actress
Esther Anil, though it later had a delayed released in late 2022. He also teamed up to star alongside Ramesh in films including the long-delayed
Padaippalan (2022) and the unreleased
Vendaikkai Katthirikkai. == Filmography ==