 During the 1990s, Vijayakumar was frequently seen in father roles such as "Nattamai" and "Baasha".During the same time, Vijayakumar also played lead roles in award-winning films such as "Kizhakku Cheemayile" and "Anthimanthaarai", with Bharathiraaja.The latter took him close to winning the National Film Award for Best Actor, eventually missing it by one vote.