 Vijayakumar continued to act in supporting roles in the early 1980s.After a brief slump, Vijayakumar's second innings came in 1988 with Mani Ratnam's "Agni Natchathiram", where he played the role of Phrabu Ganesan and Karthik Muthuraman's father.The movie told the story of two half brothers who fight for their father's love and property.