Arvind Swami

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Arvind Swamy
Aravind Swamy at 63rd Filmfare Awards 2016 (South) Press Meet.jpg
Swamy at the 63rd Filmfare Awards South in 2016
Born (1970-06-18) 18 June 1970 (age 53)
NationalityIndian
Alma materWake Forest University
Loyola College, Chennai
Occupation
Years active1991–2000; 2013–present
Spouse(s)
  • Gayathri Ramamurthy
    ​
    (
    m. 1994; div. 2010)
  • Aparna Mukherjee
    (
    m. 2012)
Children2
Parent(s)V. D. Swami (father)

Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970)[1] is an Indian film actor, model, entrepreneur and television presenter known for his work in Tamil 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), Dhruva (2016), Bogan (2017) and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018).

Swami 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 Bollywood, making his appearance in Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1998).[4] Swamy spent a decade in businesses ranging from software engineering, construction, international trade to global outsourcing, before returning to act with works such as Kadal (2013), Thani Oruvan (2015), Dear Dad (2016), Dhruva (2016), Bogan (2017) and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). He briefly worked as a television presenter as the host of the third season of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi (2012–2016) on Star Vijay.

Early life[edit]

Swami's parents are industrialist V. D. Swami and Bharatanatyam dancer Vasantha.[5] Swamy studied at the Sishya School and later in Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School and completed his schooling in 1987.[citation needed] He then graduated from Loyola College, Madras in 1990 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.[citation needed] He then went to the United States to do his master's degree in international business[6] from Wake Forest University in North Carolina.[citation needed]

Arvind Swami wished to be a doctor. In college, he used to be a model for pocket money.[7] 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 he and Santosh Sivan introduced him into the basics of film-making.[7]

Career[edit]

1991–2000: Early career and breakthrough[edit]

Swami 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 the 1992 political drama film Roja (1992). Roja and Bombay (1995) won awards at the State and National Film Award functions. His performance in Bombay was called "soulful" by Time magazine.[8] Swamy has won several awards, popular and critical, for his films.[8] He has been described as one of the first few actors in India who is able to achieve pan-Indian appeal. He lends his voice for the Tamil dubbing version for the adult Simba of Disney's The Lion King (1994).[9] His next project was Indira (1995), followed by Telugu Mounam (1995) and Malayalam movie Devaraagam (1996).

He starred in Rajiv Menon's Minsara Kanavu alongside Kajol and Prabhu Deva, which won four National Film Awards and high box office numbers.[10] 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.[11] His next film was Pudhayal (1997). He appeared in his first straight Hindi film through Priyadarshan's Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1998) produced by Amitabh Bachchan. Co-starring alongside Juhi Chawla, Arvind portrayed the role of a village do-gooder.[11]

Sasanam, which he worked on without remuneration for NFDC, had a belated release in 2006.[citation needed] His final two releases before his sabbatical, En Swasa Kaatre (1999) and Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya (2000).

2000–2005: Business career[edit]

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. In 2000, he became the president of InterPro Global, and the chairman and managing director of Prolease India, engaged in transaction processing.[8] 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.[7]

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.[7]

2013–2018: Back to films[edit]

After his successful treatment, Mani Ratnam called him once more to play a role in one of his films, Kadal (2013)[9] for which Swamy dropped 15 kilograms.[7][needs copy edit] In 2013, he provided the voice-over for Santhosh Sivan's film Ceylon.[12]

In 2015, he acted in a now iconic negative role of Sidharth Abhimanyu in Thani Oruvan, for which he was highly praised and received positive reviews and many awards for his acting.[citation needed]

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 a lot of appreciation from the Telugu audience.[citation needed] Later the same year, he appeared in a Hindi movie, Dear Dad.[13] The game show Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi recruited Swamy for its third season, which started airing on 30 May 2016.[citation needed][14]

In 2017, he did the title role of Bogan, co starring Jayam Ravi, for which he again got an outstanding response from the critics and the audience.[citation needed]

In 2018, he acted in Bhaskar Oru Rascal. Arvind Swami does a neat job without imitating what Mammootty did in the original.[15] The film is followed by Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). The film was released to positive reviews which also got him the Filmfare Award.[16]

Personal life[edit]

Swamy married Gayathri Ramamurthy[17] in June 1994 and has one daughter Adhira, born in 1996,[citation needed] and a son Rudra, born in 2000.[citation needed][1] The couple lived separately for seven years until 2010, when they filed for divorce.[17] He was granted the custody of his children.[18] He is married to Aparna Mukerjee, a lawyer,[citation needed] since 2012.[1]

Filmography[edit]

Key
Films that have not yet been released Denotes films that have not yet been released
List of films and roles
Year Film Role Language Notes
1991 Thalapathi Arjun Tamil Debut as lead role
1992 Roja Rishi Kamar Tamil Nominated–Filmfare Award For Best Actor – Tamil
Daddy Anand Malayalam
1993 Thalattu Kuzhanthai Tamil
Marupadiyum Gowri Shankar Tamil Remake of Hindi film Arth (1982)
1994 Paasamalargal Raj Tamil
Duet Himself Tamil Guest appearance
1995 Bombay Shekhar Narayanan Pillai Tamil Nominated–Filmfare Award For Best Actor – Tamil
Indira Thiyagu Tamil
Mounam Kiran Telugu
1996 Devaraagam Vishnu Malayalam
1997 Minsara Kanavu Thomas Thangadurai Tamil
Pudhayal Kodiesvaran Tamil
1998 Saat Rang Ke Sapne Mahipal Sharma Hindi Debut Hindi film, remake of 1994 Malayalam film Thenmavin Kombath
1999 En Swasa Kaatre Arun Raj Tamil
2000 Alaipayuthey Ram Tamil Cameo appearance
Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya Mohit Kumar Hindi
2006 Sasanam Muthiah Tamil
2013 Kadal Sam Fernando Tamil
Ceylon N/A Tamil
English		 Narrator
2015 Thani Oruvan Dr. Siddharth Abhimanyu/Pazhani Sengalvarayan Tamil Filmfare Award For Best Supporting Actor – Tamil
2016 Dear Dad Nitin Swaminathan Hindi
Uriyadi N/A Tamil Narrator
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 Aadhithya Maravarman (Bogan) Tamil
2018 Bhaskar Oru Rascal Bhaskar Tamil
Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Varadharajan “Varadhan” Senapathi Tamil Filmfare Award For Best Actor (Critics) – South
Nominated–Filmfare Award For Best Actor – Tamil
2021 Naragasooran Dhruva Tamil
Thalaivii M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) Tamil
Telugu
Hindi
Kallapart Rajapandi Tamil In post production
Sathuranga Vettai 2 Gandhi Babu Tamil In post production
Vanangamudi Not yet released
TBA
Tamil Filming
Rendagamdagger Not yet released
TBA
Pulanaivu Not yet released
TBA
Tamil Filming
Dubbing artist

Television[edit]

List of television shows and roles
Year Title Role(s) Notes Ref(s)
2016 Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi Not yet released Host
2021 Navarasa Not yet released Vishnu 1 episode [19]
[20]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Happy Birthday Arvind Swamy: Five unknown facts about the megastar". The Times of India. 18 June 1970. Retrieved 29 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ↑ "The Arvind Swami interview: Nationalism, GST, demonetisation and more". Thenewsminute.com. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Mahesh Manjrekar to remake Kaksparsh in Hindi and Tamil with Arvind Swamy and Tisca Chopra". The Times of India.
  4. ↑ "Arvind Swamy Goes To Bollywood Again". Entertainment.oneindia.in. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Bhattacharya, Roshmila (1 August 2015). "Arvind Swamy: I found stardom stifling". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  6. ↑ Joshi, Namrata (25 April 2016). "The return journey". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 August 2021.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Kamath, Sudhish (31 January 2013). "Return of the heartthrob". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 8 February 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "An Actor, and a businessman". The Times of India. 14 November 2002. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Welcome moviemitra.com". Moviemitra.com. Archived from the original on 10 November 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  10. ↑ "Southern Spice: A chat with Arvind Swamy". Gulf News. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 https://web.archive.org/web/19990503053105/http://www.filmfare.com/site/may97/sspecial.htm
  12. ↑ "Arvind Swami in Santosh Sivan's 'Ceylon'". The Times of India. 4 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Dear Dad movie review: Arvind Swamy's father son drama should not be missed! – Bollywood News & Gossip, Movie Reviews, Trailers & Videos at. Bollywoodlife.com (13 May 2016). Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  14. ↑ "It's Aravind Swami for NVOK". The Times of India. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ↑ Baskar Oru Rascal (aka) Bhaskar Oru Rascal review. Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  16. ↑ Purushothaman, Kirubhakar (27 September 2018) Chekka Chivantha Vaanam Review: Mani Ratnam demolishes gangster cinema – Movies News. India Today. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Aravind Swamy's 'happy' divorce". Sify. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  18. ↑ "Arvind Swamy to pay wife Rs 75 divorce settlement". The Times of India. TNN. 2 December 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  19. ↑ "Suriya, Parvathy, Nithya and Vijay Sethupathi among cast for Netflix's 'Navarasa'". The News Minute. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "Fahadh Faasil, Suriya likely to make OTT debut with Mani Ratnam's upcoming web series". Hindustan Times. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.

External links[edit]

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