Anandaraj

Anandaraj
Born	(1959-05-15) 15 May 1959 Pondicherry, Puducherry, India
Alma mater	M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1988–present

Anandaraj (born: May 15, 1959) is an Indian actor. He has acted in villain roles in several Tamil films and has appeared in over a two hundred films in different languages including Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi.

Career

Anandaraj was born and brought up in Pondicherry. His father was a businessman. After schooling, he wanted his son to be a police officer, but Anandaraj wanted to try something different as he was fascinated with films. His family supported his dreams. He joined in M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute, Chennai for a course. Kannada actor Shiva Rajkumar was his classmate.

Anandaraj was under the impression that offers would come his way, but later he had to struggle for an opportunity and finally started off with the 1988 film Oruvar Vaazhum Aalayam, starring Prabhu and Sivakumar, and later En Thangachi Padichava, directed by P. Vasu, gave him the much-needed break in all the four south Indian languages. He did Suresh Krissna’s Raja Kaiya Vacha (1990) with Prabhu, in which he essayed a positive role. However, he appeared with Vijayakanth and starred in several films together.

On playing the hero roles, Anand Raj mentioned: "When one gets popular being a villain, people around you always push you to take the next step and it was one of those phases when I took up offers to play the lead role". He went on to play lead roles in the films Palaivana Paravaigal, Kaaval Nilayam, Thambi Oorukku Puthusu, Government Mappillai, Pokkiri Thambi, Kizhakku Veluthathchu, David Uncle, En Rajangam, Puthiya Aatchi and My India. Even though directors offered him good scripts, the films just didn't work well at the box office. The huge popularity that Anandaraj gained during the late eighties elevated him to the status of hero and he and R. Sarathkumar together starred in a few action films. While Sarathkumar hit stardom, Anandaraj who was billed above him in their films together did not sustain his position and went back to playing small roles. He has acted as a villain alongside most of the top actors, like Balakrishna (Muddula Mavayya), Vijayakanth (Pulan Visaranai), Chiranjeevi (Gang Leader) Rajnikanth (Baashha), Mammootty (Makkal Aatchi), R. Sarathkumar (Suryavamsam) and Vijay (Pokkiri).

Many years later, Anandaraj made a sudden switch to comedy in Mundasupatti directed by Ramkumar released in 2014 that had audiences falling off their seats and there had been no looking back since then. Anandaraj has become a hot favorite of young directors who write quirky characters for him which he performs with his signature style that has gained him a huge fan following in the younger generation of movie goers.

Director Prabhu Deva offered Anandaraj the lead in the role and asked him not to react to anything, even though a baddie is expected to give exaggerated expressions. Prabhu Deva wanted Anandaraj to sport a certain look, so he underwent intense training for a year and lost about 12 kilos and fulfilled Prabhu Deva's expectation to get signed for Action Jackson (2014). He played a don in the film and his look was completely different from the one he had tried in the south, as he spots a lizard tattoo on his head.

He joined Vijay Sethupathi and Nayanthara starrer Naanum Rowdydhaan (2015). Though Anandaraj doesn’t play the main antagonist role, his character will have shades of grey. In Maragadha Naanayam (2017), he plays a character called Twinkle Ramanathan. His other films include Katha Nayagan (2017), Sathya (2017) and Gulaebaghavali (2018). He’s almost perfected the role of the comic villain. For the film Jackpot (2019), Anandaraj received Best comedian from Vikatan. He played a role in Bigil (2019) has expressed his disappointment over the filmmaker for the way he approached his character in the film in post production.

Personal life

Anandaraj was born in Puducherry and is the second son in the family of eight. He is married and has a daughter and a son.

Politics

Actor Anandraj is a loyalite of Jayalalitha and has joined ADMK under her leadership. He supported BJP and stated that he will personally vote for the party on 2014. After Jayalalitha's death he quitted ADMK. He later said Mudaliar community should vote for NOTA.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
1988	Oruvar Vaazhum Aalayam		Tamil
	Thaimel Aanai		Tamil
	Jeeva		Tamil
	En Thangachi Padichava	Gaja	Tamil
	Senthoora Poove	Udayappan	Tamil
	Paatti Sollai Thattathe	Autorickshaw driver	Tamil
	Kalicharan	Anandraj	Tamil
1989	Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu		Tamil
	Nal Valthukkal		Tamil
	Rajadhi Raja		Tamil
	Bamma Maata Bangaru Baata	Anasuya's husband	Telugu
	Muddula Mavayya	Gaja	Telugu
	Palnati Rudraiah		Telugu
	Lankeswarudu		Telugu
	Ontari Poratam	Govinda Yadav	Telugu
	Two Town Rowdy	Rowdy	Telugu
1990	Prananiki Pranam	Bahadoor	Telugu
	Nalla Kaalam Porandaachu	Joe	Tamil
	Pulan Visaranai	Dharma	Tamil
	Paattukku Naan Adimai		Tamil
	Pudhu Padagan	Arumugam	Tamil	Guest appearance
	Thangathin Thangam		Tamil
	Kalyana Rasi		Tamil
	Urudhi Mozhi		Tamil
	Ulagam Pirandhadhu Enakkaga		Tamil
	Periya Idathu Pillai		Tamil
	Velai Kidaichuduchu	Baasha	Tamil
	Iddaru Iddare	Teja	Telugu
	Palaivana Paravaigal	Machi	Tamil
	Vellaiya Thevan		Tamil
	Namma Ooru Poovatha		Tamil
	Raja Kaiya Vacha	Japan	Tamil
	Ethir Kaatru	Devaraj	Tamil
1991	Sathruvu	Satya Murthy	Telugu
	Gang Leader	Kanakambaram	Telugu
	Kaaval Nilayam	Raja	Tamil
	Maanagara Kaaval	Robin	Tamil
	Iravu Sooriyan		Tamil
	Moondrezhuthil En Moochirukkum	Amirtharajah	Tamil
	Thambi Oorukku Pudhusu		Tamil
1992	Government Mappillai	Sundarapandian	Tamil
	Unna Nenachen Pattu Padichen		Tamil
	Bharathan	Gangadharan	Tamil
	Pokkiri Thambi	Thambidurai	Tamil
	Kizhakku Velathachu		Tamil
	Thaali Kattiya Raasa		Tamil
	David Uncle	David	Tamil
1993	Kattalai		Tamil
	Rajadurai	Mayandi	Tamil
	Bava Bavamaridi	Bhoopati	Telugu
1994	The City		Malayalam
	En Rajangam	Gopalakrishnan	Tamil
	Vandicholai Chinraasu	Santhanapandian	Tamil
	Jallikattu Kaalai	Loose Gounder	Tamil
	Magudikkaran		Tamil
	Jaana	Anand	Kannada
1995	Baashha	Indaran	Tamil
	Kattumarakaran		Tamil
	Thottil Kuzhandhai	Rajarathnam	Tamil
	Puthiya Aatchi	Marappan	Tamil
	Nandhavana Theru	Rajasekhar	Tamil
	Thirumoorthy	Govindan	Tamil
	Pedarayudu	Bhupathi	Telugu
	Thedi Vandha Raasa		Tamil
	Mr. Madras	Thiruttani	Tamil
	Makkal Aatchi	Rangachari	Tamil
	Ragasiya Police	Azhagam Perumal	Tamil
	Maaman Magal	Paramasivam	Tamil
	Thondan	Ilavenil	Tamil
	Varraar Sandiyar	Maruthu	Tamil
1996	Aruva Velu	Alavanthar	Tamil
	Kizhakku Mugam	Nagaraj	Tamil
	Sengottai	Inspector Thangamani	Tamil	Guest appearance
	Andha Naal	Father James	Tamil
	Manikkam		Tamil
	Ramudochadu	Gavaraju	Telugu
	Palegara		Kannada
1997	Shubhakankshalu	Moses	Telugu
	Aravindhan	Ramanathan	Tamil
	My India		Tamil
	Suryavamsam	Dharamalingam Gounder	Tamil	Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain Cinema Express Award for Best Villain
	Abhimanyu		Tamil	Guest appearance
	Adimai Changili		Tamil
	Janakiraman		Tamil
	Taraka Ramudu	Gajapati's brother-in-law	Telugu
	Arasiyal	Vikram	Tamil	Guest appearance
1998	Moovendhar	Velliangiri	Tamil
	Naam Iruvar Nammaku Iruvar		Tamil
	Suryavamsam	Singaraju Lingaraju	Telugu
	Sandhippoma		Tamil
	Kalyana Galatta		Tamil
	Simmarasi	Maragatham	Tamil	Dinakaran Cinema Award for Best Villain Actor
	Desiya Geetham		Tamil
	Urimai Por	J. K. B.	Tamil
	Pudhumai Pithan		Tamil	Guest appearance
	Pooveli	Maha's uncle	Tamil
1999	Periyanna		Tamil
	Kummi Paattu	Pachhamalayan	Tamil
	Oruvan	Peter Fernandez	Tamil
	Malabar Police	Varadappan	Tamil
	Kannupada Poguthaiya	Maniyaandar	Tamil
	Kanmani Unakkaga	Prathap	Tamil
	Unnaruge Naan Irundhal	Jamindar	Tamil
	Paattali		Tamil
	Time	Local Rogue	Tamil
2000	Vaanathaippola		Tamil
	Vetri Kodi Kattu	Dubai Job Agency's Middleman	Tamil
	Krodham 2	Yogaraj	Tamil
	Anbudan		Tamil
	Vanna Thamizh Pattu	Rasappan	Tamil
	Independence Day		Tamil/Kannada
2001	Seerivarum Kaalai		Tamil
	Simharasi		Telugu
	Narasimha	Thilagarnambi	Tamil
2002	Seema Simham	Police Inspector	Telugu
	Varushamellam Vasantham		Tamil
	Ezhumalai		Tamil
	Siva Rama Raju	Veeraju Varma	Telugu
	Chennakesava Reddy	Dhanunjaya Reddy	Telugu
	Style	Marthandam	Tamil
2003	Aasai Aasaiyai	Commissioner Srinivas IPS	Tamil
	Kadhaludan		Tamil	Guest appearance
	Yes Madam		Tamil
	Raghavendra	Ankineedu	Telugu
	Sena	Mastan Bhai	Tamil
	Ice		Tamil
	Diwan	Meenakshi's father	Tamil
	Vadakku Vaasal	Inspector Alex Pandian	Tamil
2004	Campus		Tamil
	Engal Anna	Durairaj	Tamil
	Sathyam	Mambally Mukundan Menon	Malayalam
	Arasatchi		Tamil
	Giri	Pasupathy, Pasupathy's father	Tamil
	Meesai Madhavan	Rani's father	Tamil
2005	Iyer IPS	Pasupathy	Tamil
	Kannadi Pookal		Tamil
2006	Perarasu	DCP Kesavan Nair	Tamil
	Jayam	Bharathan	Malayalam
2007	Pokkiri	Narasimha	Tamil
2008	Ashoka		Tamil
	Vallamai Tharayo	Nandita's father	Tamil
	Nayagan	Gang leader	Tamil
2009	Villu	J.D	Tamil
	Adhineta	Mahendra Bhupati	Telugu
2010	Kola Kolaya Mundhirika	Veerappan	Tamil
	Goa		Tamil
	Indrasena		Tamil
	Agam Puram	Muthuraj	Tamil	Guest appearance
2011	Doubles	Pathan	Malayalam
	En Ullam Unnai Theduthey		Tamil
2014	Mundasupatti	Zamindar Ekambaram	Tamil
	Action Jackson	Xavier	Hindi
2015	Pulan Visaranai 2		Tamil
	Paayum Puli	Inspector Manikandan	Tamil
	Naanum Rowdydhaan	Pondicherry Don	Tamil
2016	Oru Nodiyil	Anna	Tamil
	Parvathipuram		Telugu
	Dhilluku Dhuddu	Kumar's father	Tamil
2017	Bruce Lee	Inspector Shanmugapandiyan	Tamil
	Maragadha Naanayam	'Twinkle' Ramanathan	Tamil
	Katha Nayagan	Dubai Sheik	Tamil
	Sathya	Inspector Chowdhary	Tamil
2018	Gulaebaghavali	Munish's boss	Tamil
	Thaanaa Serndha Koottam	Gandhi Appa (Kuthaalingam)	Tamil
	Pakka	Nattamai	Tamil
	Iravukku Aayiram Kangal	Murugesan	Tamil
	Kalavani Mappillai	Thulasi's father	Tamil
	Evanukku Engeyo Matcham Irukku	Annachi	Tamil
	Johnny	Prakash	Tamil
	Silukkuvarupatti Singam	Share Auto Chandran	Tamil
2019	Ayogya	'Bullet' Rajendran	Tamil
	Gurkha	Alex	Tamil
	Jackpot	Maanasthan / Inspector Maanasthi	Tamil	Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for Best comedian
	Bigil	Anand (Rock)	Tamil
2020	Biskoth	Narasimhan	Tamil
2021	Vanakkam Da Mappilei	Ramachandran	Tamil