Arvind Swamy | |
---|---|
Born | Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India | 18 June 1970
Education | Loyola College, Chennai (BS) Wake Forest University (MA) |
Occupations | |
Years active |
|
Spouses | Gayathri Ramamurthy (m. 1994;div. 2010)Aparna Mukherjee (m. 2012) |
Children | 2 |
Father | V. D. Swami |
Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970 [1] ) is an Indian actor, film director and entrepreneur known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi cinema, Telugu cinema and Malayalam cinema. [2] [3] He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the blockbuster film Thalapathi (1991) and subsequently starred in successful films such as Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Minsara Kanavu (1997), Thani Oruvan (2015), and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). He made his debut as a director in the Netflix anthology series Navarasa (2021) in which his segment was named Rowthiram (Raudra - Anger) . [4] He is a recipient of three Filmfare Award South, one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and two SIIMA Awards.
Swamy also starred in other regional film industries, including Telugu and Malayalam films where he has done films such as Mounam (1995), Daddy (1992) and Devaraagam (1996). He has also appeared in Hindi, making his debut appearance as lead actor in Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1998). [5] He briefly worked as a television presenter as the host of the third season of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi (2012–2016) on Star Vijay. [6]
Swamy's parents are industrialist V. D. Swamy and Bharatanatyam dancer Vasantha. [7] Swamy studied at the Sishya School and later in Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, P. S. Senior Secondary School and completed his schooling in 1987. [8] He then graduated from Loyola College, Madras in 1990 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. [9] [ better source needed ] He then went to the United States to do his master's degree in international business [10] from Wake Forest University in North Carolina. [ citation needed ]
Arvind Swamy wished to be a doctor. In college, he used to be a model for pocket money. [11] In his Loyola Theatre Society, he wasn't well received and was asked to get off stage. Later on Mani Ratnam saw him in an advertisement and called for a meeting. Then Santosh Sivan introduced him to the basics of film-making. [11]
Swamy made his debut in Mani Ratnam's action drama film, Thalapathi (1991), where he played a young district collector pitted against a don and his own biological brother. Subsequently, Mani Ratnam signed him on to play the lead role in his 1992 political drama film Roja (1992). Roja and Bombay (1995) won awards at the State and National Film Awards. His performance in Bombay was called "soulful" by Time Magazine. [12] Swamy has won several awards, popular and critical, for his films. [12] He has been described as one of the first few actors in India who is able to achieve pan-Indian appeal. He lent his voice for the Tamil dubbed version of the adult Simba in Disney's The Lion King (1994). [13] His next project was Indira (1995), followed by the Telugu film Mounam (1995) and Malayalam movie Devaraagam (1996).
He starred in Rajiv Menon's Minsaara Kanavu alongside Kajol and Prabhu Deva, which won four National Film Awards besides high box office reviews. [14] During the making of the film, Arvind Swami was critical of Menon changing the script to prioritise Prabhu Deva's role. The film eventually performed well at the box office after a slow start, with Arvind Swami eventually stating he was happy to be a part of the film. [15] His next film, Pudhayal (1997), again saw him portray a role with a cast headlined by another actor, Mammootty. In the film, Arvind wore uncharacteristically loud clothes and portrayed a comedy-oriented role for the first time in his career. [15] Working on the two films meant that he missed out on the opportunity of acting in Mani Ratnam's Iruvar (1997). [15] He appeared in his first Hindi film through Priyadarshan's Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1998) produced by Amitabh Bachchan. Co-starring Juhi Chawla, Arvind portrayed the role of a village do-gooder. [15]
In the late 1990s, several of Arvind Swami's films ran into production troubles. Three of his Tamil films, Gandhi Krishna's Engineer , Azhagam Perumal's Mudhal Mudhalaaga and Mahendran's Sasanam were all stalled after completing a few production schedules. The former two, which featured him opposite Hindi actresses Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor, respectively, eventually did not have a theatrical release. Sasanam, which he worked on without remuneration, had a delayed release in 2006. Two prominent Hindi films that he signed during the period, Mahesh Bhatt's venture with Aishwarya Rai, and Anupam Kher's directorial debut film co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, also eventually were dropped. [15] His final two releases before his sabbatical, En Swasa Kaatre (1999) and Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya (2000) also took several years to complete, with long delays during the production phase. [16]
Swamy eventually stopped acting in films post-2000, after playing a guest role in Mani Ratnam's Alaipayuthey , and opted to concentrate on his business interests. As the director of V D Swamy and Company, he continued to engage in international trade and construction businesses. In 2000, he became the president of InterPro Global, and the chairman and managing director of Prolease India, engaged in transaction processing. [12] He was in charge of operations and technology for the delivery of many processes across different verticals globally. He then founded Talent Maximus in 2005, a company engaged in payroll processing and temporary staffing in India. In 2005, he had an accident and injured his spine. He experienced partial paralysis of his leg and suffered in pain for many years. The treatment took another 4–5 years. [11]
After his successful treatment, Mani Ratnam called him once more to play a role in one of his films, Kadal (2013) [13] for which Swamy dropped 15 kilograms. [17] In 2013, he provided the voice-over for Santhosh Sivan's film Ceylon . [18]
In 2015, he played the iconic negative role of Sidharth Abhimanyu in Thani Oruvan , for which he was highly praised and received positive reviews and many awards. [19] [20]
In 2016, he reprised the same role in Telugu in the film Dhruva with Ram Charan, a remake of Thani Oruvan, for which he got appreciation from the Telugu audience. [21] [22] Later that year, he appeared in a Hindi film, Dear Dad . [23] The game show Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi recruited Swamy for its third season, which started airing on 30 May 2016. [24]
In 2017, he played the title role of Bogan , co-starring Jayam Ravi, for which he again got an outstanding response from critics and audience. [25]
In 2018, he acted in Bhaskar Oru Rascal , playing the character Mammootty did in the original. [26] The film was followed by Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). The film was released to positive reviews which also got him the Filmfare Award. [27]
In 2021, he acted in A. L. Vijay's directorial biographical-political drama Thalaivii opposite Kangana Ranaut. He portrayed the character of actor-politician M. G. Ramachandran in the film. He returned to Malayalam cinema after 25 years with Ottu (2022). [28]
In the late 2010s, several of Arvind Swamy's films were delayed or shelved as a result of production troubles and the actor's insistence to have his salary settled. Production on Sathuranga Vettai 2 began in July 2016, but remains unreleased following a payment dispute with the film's producer Manobala. [29] Vanangamudi was conceptualised by director Selva in 2014, with the shoot taking place in a slow manner over the course of nine years. [30] Likewise, Engineer , Naragasooran , The Leader, and Kallapart began their shoot in mid-2017 through mid-2023, but these films never had a theatrical release. [31] [32] Other projects such as the Hindi-Tamil bilingual remake of Marathi film Kaksparsh and Santhosh Jayakumar's Pulanaivu were shelved despite entering production. [33] [34]
Swamy married Gayathri Ramamurthy [35] in June 1994 and has one daughter Adhira, born in 1996, and a son Rudra, born in 2000. [36] [37] The couple lived separately for seven years until 2010, when they filed for divorce. [35] [38] He was granted the custody of his children. [39] He married Aparna Mukerjee in 2012. [40] [36]
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1991 | Thalapathi | Arjun | Tamil | credited as Arvind |
1992 | Roja | Rishi Kumar | Nominated–Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil | |
Daddy | Anand | Malayalam | ||
1993 | Marupadiyum | Gowri Shankar | Tamil | credited as Arvind |
Thalattu | Kuzhanthai | credited as Arvind | ||
1994 | Paasamalargal | Raj | ||
Duet | Himself | Guest appearance | ||
1995 | Bombay | Shekhar Narayanan Pillai | Nominated–Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil | |
Indira | Thiyagu | |||
Mounam | Kiran | Telugu | ||
1996 | Devaraagam | Vishnu | Malayalam | |
1997 | Minsara Kanavu | Thomas Thangadurai | Tamil | |
Pudhayal | Kodiesvaran | |||
1998 | Saat Rang Ke Sapne | Mahipal Sharma | Hindi | |
1999 | En Swasa Kaatre | Arun Raj | Tamil | |
2000 | Alaipayuthey | Ram | Guest appearance | |
Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya | Mohit Kumar | Hindi | release was delayed by three years | |
2006 | Sasanam | Muthiah | Tamil | The film began production in the mid-1990s but was only released in 2006 due to production trouble |
2013 | Kadal | Sam Fernando | ||
2015 | Thani Oruvan | Dr. Siddharth Abhimanyu/ Pazhani Sengalvarayan | Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for Best Villain — Male IIFA Utsavam Award for Best Performance in Negative Role | |
2016 | Dear Dad | Nitin Swamynathan | Hindi | |
Dhruva | Dr. Siddharth Abhimanyu/ Venkanna Chengalarayudu | Telugu | Nominated– SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role – Telugu Nominated– Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu | |
2017 | Bogan | Aadhitya Maravarman (Bogan) | Tamil | |
2018 | Bhaskar Oru Rascal | Bhaskar | ||
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam | Varadarajan (Varadan) Senapathi | Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor – Tamil Nominated–Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil | ||
2021 | Thalaivii | M. G. Ramachandran | Tamil Hindi | Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor – Tamil SIIMA Award For Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Tamil |
2022 | Ottu | David | Malayalam | |
Rendangam | Tamil | |||
2023 | Custody | Rajashekhar (Raazu) | Tamil Telugu | |
2024 | Singapore Saloon | Himself | Tamil | Cameo appearance [41] |
Meiyazhagan | Arunmozhi Varman "Arul" | |||
TBA | Gandhi Talks † | Boseman | Silent | Delayed |
† | Denotes series that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2021 | Navarasa | Vishnu | 1 episode as actor, 1 episode as director (debut) | [42] [43] |
2024 | IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack | DRS | [44] |
Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2016 | Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi | Host |
Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Ceylon | Narrator | Tamil English | Narrator |
2016 | Uriyadi | Narrator | Tamil | Narrator |
2024 | Kanguva | Narrator | Tamil | Narrator |
Title | Actor | Character | Dub Language | Original Language | Original Year Release | Dub Year Release | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pudhiya Mugam | Suresh Chandra Menon | Major Shiva/Raja | Tamil | 1993 | |||
The Lion King | Matthew Broderick (voice) | Simba | Tamil | English | 1994 | 1994 | |
Dil Se.. | Shah Rukh Khan | Amarkant Varma (Amar) | Tamil | Hindi | 1998 | 1998 | Dubbed Tamil film title: Uyire... |
The Lion King | Chiwetel Ejiofor (voice) | Scar | Tamil | English | 2019 | 2019 | |
Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy | Chiranjeevi | Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy | Tamil | Telugu | 2019 | 2019 |
Gopalaratnam Subramaniam, known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films.
Bombay is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala. The film tells the story of an inter-religious family in Bombay before and during the Bombay riots, which took place between December 1992 and January 1993 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid led to religious tensions between Hindu and Muslim communities. It is the second installment in Ratnam's trilogy of films that depict human relationships against a background of Indian politics, including Roja (1992) and Dil Se.. (1998).
Alai Payuthey, also spelt Alaipayuthey, is a 2000 Indian Tamil-language romantic musical film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mani Ratnam, starring R. Madhavan and Shalini. The film explores the tensions of married life between two young people who elope and the maturing of love among urban Indians who are conflicted between tradition and modernity. The score and soundtrack were composed by A. R. Rahman.
Ravi Mohan, better known by his stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian actor who works in the Tamil cinema. The son of veteran film editor A. Mohan, Ravi made his lead acting debut in Jayam. He has won one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and one Filmfare Award South and three SIIMA Awards respectively.
Siddharth Suryanarayan, known mononymously as Siddharth, is an Indian actor who primarily works in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi language films. Apart from acting, he has also been involved in films as a screenwriter, producer and playback singer. He has also been featured in many advertisements. He is a recipient of three Filmfare Awards South and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award.
Roja is a 1992 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film directed and co-written by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Arvind Swamy and Madhoo. The film was produced by K. Balachander under his Kavithalayaa Productions and distributed by G. Venkateswaran. The film's cinematography was handled by Santhosh Sivan, music by A. R. Rahman in his debut and editing done by Suresh Urs.
Basuva Rajeev Sundaram is an Indian dance choreographer, actor and film director, who works primarily in Tamil and Telugu films. He appeared as an actor in films like Jeans (1998), 123 (2002), I Love You Da (2002), Quick Gun Murugun (2009); and directed one film, Aegan (2008).
Priya Mani Raj, known professionally as Priyamani, is an Indian actress and television personality who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada films. She is the recipient of several awards, including a National Film Award, three Filmfare Awards South and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award.
Mohan is an Indian actor, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He has also acted in some Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. Mohan is also known as "Kokila Mohan" after his debut film Kokila (1977), and "Mic Mohan" from numerous roles playing singers using microphones. In 1982, he received the Filmfare Award for Best Tamil Actor for his work in Payanangal Mudivathillai.
The Filmfare Best Director Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The awards were extended to "Best Director" in 1972.
Kadal is a 2013 Indian Tamil-language action drama film co-written, co-produced and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars debutantes Gautham Karthik, and Thulasi Nair, with Arjun Sarja, Aravind Swamy and Lakshmi Manchu in supporting roles. The music was composed by A. R. Rahman. The film revolves around the life of fishermen who instill the fact that faith can sometimes lead to the triumph of humanity.
Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi, also known by the initialism NVOK, is an Indian Tamil-language game show. It is the official Indian Tamil adaptation of the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.
Gautham Karthik is an Indian actor who works in Tamil-language films. He made his acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Kadal (2013). He is a recipient of one Filmfare Award South, a Tamil Nadu State Film Award and a SIIMA Award.
Thani Oruvan is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film directed by Mohan Raja, who co-wrote the script with Suresh and Balakrishnan. It is produced by Kalpathi S. Aghoram, S. Ganesh and S. Suresh under AGS Entertainment. The film stars Jayam Ravi and Arvind Swamy in lead roles. Nayanthara, Thambi Ramaiah, Ganesh Venkataraman, Harish Uthaman, Sricharan, Rahul Madhav, Nagineedu, Madhusudhan Rao, Saiju Kurup, Nassar and Mugdha Godse plays supporting roles.
Dhruva is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film directed by Surender Reddy and produced by Allu Aravind under his banner Geetha Arts. It stars Ram Charan in the title role alongside Aravind Swamy, Rakul Preet Singh, and Navdeep in pivotal roles. A remake of the Tamil film Thani Oruvan (2015), it follows Dhruva, an IPS officer who wants to arrest Siddharth Abhimanyu, a wealthy scientist, who uses secret medical and illegal practices for profit.
Bhaskar Oru Rascal is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film written and directed by Siddique. A remake of his own Malayalam film Bhaskar the Rascal (2015), the film stars Arvind Swamy, Amala Paul, Master Raghavan, and Baby Nainika, while Nikesha Patel, Aftab Shivdasani, Soori, and Nassar play supporting roles. The team began production in February 2017. This marks Bollywood actor Aftab Shivdasani's Tamil cinema debut.
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language crime drama film directed by Mani Ratnam, co-written with Siva Ananth. Produced by Mani Ratnam under the banner Madras Talkies, along with Lyca Productions, the film features an ensemble cast including Aravind Swami, Arun Vijay, Silambarasan and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles along with Prakash Raj, Jyothika, Aishwarya Rajesh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Dayana Erappa, Jayasudha, Thyagarajan and Mansoor Ali Khan.
Thalaivii is a 2021 Indian biographical drama film based on the life of Indian actress-politician J. Jayalalithaa. The film stars Kangana Ranaut as Jayalalithaa, Arvind Swamy as M. G. Ramachandran, Nassar as M. Karunanidhi, Raj Arjun and Samuthirakani as R. M. Veerappan in the Hindi and Tamil versions, respectively. Shot simultaneously in Tamil and Hindi, it is directed by A. L. Vijay and written by Madhan Karky (Tamil) and Rajat Arora (Hindi). The Movie is produced by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Shailesh R Singh of Vibri Motion Pictures and Karma Media And Entertainment respectively. The film also features Nassar, Bhagyashree, Raj Arjun, Madhoo, Thambi Ramaiah, Shamna Kasim and Samuthirakani in supporting roles. The music, background score and the soundtrack for both languages is composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar.
Navarasa is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language anthology television series created by Mani Ratnam, who also collaborated with Jayendra Panchapakesan to produce it through their newly formed banner Justickets. The series features nine stand-alone episodes based on the Indian concept of the Navarasas, filmed by Priyadarshan, Karthik Subbaraj, Vasanth, Arvind Swami, Bejoy Nambiar, Karthick Naren, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Sarjun KM and Rathindran R. Prasad. It comprises an ensemble cast of Suriya, Vijay Sethupathi, Siddharth, Revathi, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Prayaga Martin, Arvind Swamy, Prasanna, Poorna, Delhi Ganesh, Rohini, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Yogi Babu, Manikuttan, Remya Nambeesan, Aditi Balan, Bobby Simha, Riythvika, Sree Raam, Atharvaa, Nedumudi Venu, Anjali and Kishore, amongst others.