Vijayan was an Indian actor primarily concentrated in Malayalam and Tamil cinema. A respected character actor in the 1970s and 80s, he was best known for his villainous leading role in Uthiripookkal (1979), which was called one of the 100 greatest Indian films of all time by News18 in 2013. He also played a minor role in Mani Ratnam's Nayakan (1987), which is considered a classic of Tamil cinema and is listed in TIME's "All-Time 100 Movies".