Ramesh Aravind

Ramesh Aravind (born 1964) (mononymously referred to as Ramesh) is an Indian actor, writer, director, producer and a TV host.^[2] He has predominantly worked in Kannada and Tamil films whilst acting in a few Telugu, Malayalam and Bollywood films. Ramesh is known for his roles in Sathi Leelavathi, Duet, America America, Nammoora Mandara Hoove, Ulta Palta, Hoomale and Amrutha Varshini.

He has earned and been nominated for numerous awards during his career, including winning two Filmfare Awards for Best Actor and Karnataka State Awards for Best Actor and Best story for his script in Hoomale, as well as Udaya TV and Suvarna TV Awards.

Ramesh is also known for his collaboration with the director K. Balachander, who introduced him in the 1986 Kannada hit Sundara Swapnagalu and further went on to work in films such as Manathil Uruthi Vendum (his Tamil debut), Duet and Rudraveena (his Telugu debut).

Career

During his stint at engineering college, Ramesh Aravind worked as an emcee to award functions, notably being the host of an event celebrating the success of the film, Sagara Sangamam (1983), where he met his long-term collaborator Kamal Haasan for the first time.^[3] He then started of by hosting a show on Kannada television, before beginning work on a Kannada language film titled Mouna Geethe where he portrayed a supporting role. Prior to the release of the film, he was approached by director K. Balachander who had been looking for an actor to play Kamal Haasan's role, for a Kannada version of the Tamil film Sollathaan Ninaikkiren (1973). After a brief audition, Balachander selected Ramesh Aravind after being "impressed with his eyes" and cast him as the playboy character in the venture titled Sundara Swapnagalu (1986), which released shortly before Mouna Geethe.^[4] Balachander then gave him a small role in Punnagai Mannan (1986) as Revathi's ex-lover, but his scenes were ultimately edited out of the final version.^[3] He was set to collaborate with the director again in the Tamil film Manathil Uruthi Vendum (1987), but Balachander later recommended to Ramesh Aravind to opt out of the film and work on a venture with K. Bhagyaraj instead, to mark his debut in a leading role. The proposed film was later shelved, and the actor returned to the cast of Manathil Uruthi Vendum, winning critical acclaim for his performance. Balachander also introduced Ramesh Aravind into Telugu films through Rudraveena, with the actor having a distinct trait of being introduced into three different film industries by the same director.^[4]

He made his breakthrough portraying a student union leader in Vasanth's romantic drama film Keladi Kanmani (1990), and the commercial success of the film meant that Ramesh Aravind shifted base to Chennai and worked primarily on Tamil and Kannada films til 1996. He earned critical acclaim in Tamil cinema, portraying a love-ridden musician in Balachander's Duet (1994) as well as through his performance alongside Kamal Haasan in Balu Mahendra's comedy film on marriage, Sathi Leelavathi (1995).^[4] Meanwhile, he appeared in several consecutive commercially successful Kannada films, en route to becoming one of the industry's most bankable actors. Subsequently he returned to the Bangalore-based film industry to prioritise his work in Kannada language films. His returns to feature in Tamil films since the mid 1990s, have often seen him collaborate with his friend Kamal Haasan, in ventures including the unreleased Kanden Seethaiyai, Panchathantiram (2002) and Mumbai Express (2005).^[4]

Writer

He scripted the national award-winning film Hoomale in 1998 and this paved the way for his foray into the field of film direction.^[5] The film also won Ramesh the best actor Filmfare award and the Karnataka State Award. His script for a hit movie called Amrithadhare in 2005 won him the Karnataka State Award for best story. After that, he started writing stories for his directorial movies.

Direction

Ramesh Aravind's first directorial venture was Rama Shama Bhama with Kamal Haasan . The second film that he directed was Sathyavan Savithri. His thirds directorial venture was Accident. His next directorial venture was a comedy flick released in 2009 Venkata in Sankata. He directed Nammanna Don in 2012.^[5]

When Kamal Haasan presented him with the offer to direct Uttama Villain, Ramesh Aravind ceased signing any Kannada films and exclusively began preparation for his directorial debut in Tamil films. It would become the first film he would make which he did not portray a leading role and explained he accepted the film due to the "challenging nature of the script", also getting an opportunity to direct his mentor K. Balachander in the film.^[3]

Television

Aravind also appeared as the host of the following shows:^[6]

• Preetyinda Ramesh, 52 episodes, Kasturi TV
• Raja Rani Ramesh, 26 Episodes, ETV Kannada
• Weekend with Ramesh Season 2, now running, Zee Kannada

Personal life

Ramesh Aravind is a Bachelor of Engineering graduate from UVCE, Bangalore University. Aravind has four siblings. He is married to Archana, and they have a daughter (Niharika) and son (Arjun). ^[7]

Filmography

Awards

Aravind has won a number of awards as an actor, director, and writer.

References

External links

• Official website
• Ramesh Aravind at the Internet Movie Database