Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970)[1] is an Indian 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), Thalaivii (2020). He made his debut as a director in the Netflix anthology series Navarasa (2021).[4]
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 Bollywood, making his appearance 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]
Arvind 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 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.[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 lends his voice for the Tamil dubbing version for the adult Simba of Disney's The Lion King (1994).[13] 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.[14] The film eventually performed well at the box office after a slow start, with Arvind Swamy eventually stating he was happy to be a part of the film.[15] 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.[15] His final two releases before his sabbatical, En Swasa Kaatre (1999) and Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya (2000).
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.[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.[11]
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.[16] In 2013, he provided the voice-over for Santhosh Sivan's film Ceylon.[17]
In 2015, he plays an 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.[18][19]
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.[20][21] Later the same year, he appeared in a Hindi movie, Dear Dad.[22] The game show Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi recruited Swamy for its third season, which started airing on 30 May 2016.[23]
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.[24]
In 2018, he acted in Bhaskar Oru Rascal. Arvind Swamy does a neat job without imitating what Mammootty did in the original.[25] The film is followed by Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). The film was released to positive reviews which also got him the Filmfare Award.[26]
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.
Swamy married Gayathri Ramamurthy[27] in June 1994 and has one daughter Adhira, born in 1996, and a son Rudra, born in 2000.[28][29] The couple lived separately for seven years until 2010, when they filed for divorce.[27][30] He was granted the custody of his children.[31] He married Aparna Mukerjee in 2012.[32][28]
 |
Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Thalapathi | Arjun | Tamil | Debut film; credited as Arvind |
| 1992 | Roja | Rishi Kumar | Tamil | Credited as Arvind Nominated–Filmfare Award For Best Actor – Tamil |
| Daddy | Anand | Malayalam | ||
| 1993 | Thalattu | Kuzhanthai | Tamil | |
| Marupadiyum | Gowri Shankar | Tamil | credited as Arvind | |
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| 2014 | Kochadaiyaan | Sengodagan | Tamil | |
| 2015 | Thani Oruvan | Dr. Siddharth Abhimanyu/Pazhani Sengalvarayan | Tamil | Filmfare Award For Best Supporting Actor – Tamil |
| 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 | 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 | Thalaivii | M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R.) | Tamil Hindi |
|
| 2022 | Naragasooran |
Dhruva | Tamil | Completed |
| Kallapart |
Rajapandi | Tamil | In post production | |
| Sathuranga Vettai 2 |
Gandhi Babu | Tamil | Completed | |
| Vanangamudi |
Anbazhagan IPS | Tamil | Completed | |
| Rendagam / Ottu |
TBA | Tamil Malayalam |
In post production |
|
Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Navarasa | Vishnu | 1 episode as actor, 1 episode as director (debut) | [33] [34] |
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi | Host |
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Ceylon | N/A | Tamil English |
Narrator |
| 2016 | Uriyadi | N/A | Tamil | Narrator |
| Film 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 | The Tamil dub was titled: Uyire.. |
| The Lion King | Chiwetel Ejiofor (voice) | Scar | Tamil | English | 2019 | 2019 | |
| Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy | Chiranjeevi | Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy | Tamil | Telugu | 2019 | 2019 | |