Ramesh Aravind

Ramesh Aravind has starrred in over 100 Kannada films, and other Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films as the leading man. As of June 2020, he is acting in the lead role in Kannada movies 100 and Bhairadevi.

While studying at engineering college, Ramesh Aravind worked as an emcee at award functions, including an event celebrating the success of the film Sagara Sangamam (1983), where he met his long-term collaborator Kamal Haasan.[14] He then started his television career hosting a show on Kannada television before working on a Kannada-language film titled Mouna Geethe, in which he had a supporting role. Prior to the release of the film, Aravind was approached by director K. Balachander who had been casting the role of Kamal Haasan for a Kannada version of the Tamil film Sollathaan Ninaikkiren (1973). After a brief audition, Balachander selected Aravind after being "impressed with his eyes" and cast him as the playboy character in Sundara Swapnagalu (1986), which released shortly before Mouna Geethe.[15][16] Balachander then gave Aravind a small role in Punnagai Mannan (1986) as Revathi's ex-lover but his scenes were edited out of the final version.[14] Aravind worked with the same director in the Tamil film Manathil Uruthi Vendum (1987) but Balachander later recommended to Aravind to opt out of the film and work with K. Bhagyaraj instead to make his debut in a leading role. The proposed film was later shelved and Aravind returned to the cast of Manathil Uruthi Vendum, winning critical acclaim for his performance. Balachander introduced Ramesh Aravind into Telugu films through Rudraveena, having been introduced into three film industries by the same director.[16]

Aravind made his breakthrough portraying a student union leader in Vasanth's romantic drama film Keladi Kanmani (1990), whose commercial success meant Aravind moved to Chennai and worked primarily on Tamil and Kannada films until 1996. He earned critical acclaim in Tamil cinema for his portrayal of a love-ridden musician in Balachander's Duet (1994) and for his performance alongside Kamal Haasan in Balu Mahendra's comedy film Sathi Leelavathi (1995).[16] He appeared in several consecutive commercially successful Kannada films, becoming one of the industry's highest-paid actors. Subsequently, he returned to the Bangalore-based film industry to work in Kannada films. In his returns to Tamil films since the mid-1990s, Aravind frequently collaborated with Kamal Haasan on projects including the unreleased Kanden Seethaiyai (1996), Panchathantiram (2002) and Mumbai Xpress (2005).[16] Aravind was also a celebrity talk-radio host on Big FM.[17]

Ramesh Aravind scripted the film Hoomale in 1998, leading to his career in film directing.[18][19] Hoomale won Aravind the Best Actor Filmfare Award and the Karnataka State Award. His script for Amrithadhare (2005) won him the Raghvendra Chitravani Award for Best Story.[20]

Aravind's Kannada book "Art of Success"[21] which is a collection of his quotes, became a bestseller. His next book "Preetiyinda Ramesh" was expected to be released in September 2022.[22] Aravind has written and narrated the Kannada audiobook "MasadaMaatu with Ramesh", which is available on Storytel.[23]

Ramesh Aravind's directorial debut was Rama Shama Bhama with Kamal Haasan. After this, he directed Sathyavan Savithri and Accident.. In 2009, he directed the comedy film Venkata in Sankata, and he directed Nammanna Don in 2012.[19]

When Kamal Haasan asked Aravind to direct Uttama Villain, Aravind switched from Kannada to exclusively direct Tamil films. Uttama Villain is the first Ararvind-directed film in which he did not portray a leading role; he said he accepted the film due to the "challenging nature of the script" and the opportunity to direct his mentor K. Balachander.[14]

Ramesh Aravind is also known for his work as a motivational speaker.[24]