Arvind Swami

Arvind Swamy (born 18 June 1970 ) is an Indian actor, director and entrepreneur known for his work in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam films.

Swamy studied at the Sishya School and later in Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, P. S. Senior Secondary School and completed his schooling in 1987.

He then graduated from Loyola College, Madras in 1990 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

He then went to the United States to do his master's degree in international business from Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Arvind Swamy wished to be a doctor.

In college, he used to be a model for pocket money.

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 to the basics of film-making.

In the late 1990s, several of Arvind Swami's films ran into production trouble.

Three of his Tamil films, Gandhi Krishna's Engineer, Azhagam Perumal's Mudhal Mudhalaaga and Mahendran's Sasanam were all stalled after completing a few production schedules.

The former two, which featured him opposite Hindi actresses Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor, respectively, eventually did not have a theatrical release.

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), and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018).

He made his debut as a director in the Netflix anthology series Navarasa (2021) in which his segment named Rowthiram (Raudra - Anger).

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 his 1992 political drama film Roja (1992).

He lends his voice for the Tamil dubbing version for the adult Simba of Disney's The Lion King (1994).

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).

Roja and Bombay (1995) won awards at the State and National Film Award functions.

His performance in Bombay was called "soulful" by Time Magazine.

Swamy has won several awards, popular and critical, for his films.

He has been described as one of the first few actors in India who is able to achieve pan-Indian appeal.

His next project was Indira (1995), followed by Telugu Mounam (1995) and Malayalam movie Devaraagam (1996).

He starred in Rajiv Menon's Minsaara Kanavu alongside Kajol and Prabhu Deva, which won four National Film Awards besides high box office reviews.

During the making of the film, Arvind Swami was critical of Menon changing the script to prioritise Prabhu Deva's role.

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.

His next film, Pudhayal (1997), again saw him portray a role in a film with a cast headlined by another actor, Mammootty.

In the film, Arvind wore uncharacteristically loud clothes and portrayed a comedy-oriented role for the first time in his career.

Working on the two films meant that he missed out on the opportunity of acting in Mani Ratnam's Iruvar (1997).

He has also appeared in Bollywood, making his debut appearance as lead actor in Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1998).

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.

His final two releases before his sabbatical, En Swasa Kaatre (1999) and Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya (2000) also took several years to complete, with long delays during the production phase.

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.

As the director of V D Swamy and Company, he continued to engage in international trade and construction businesses.

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

Sasanam, which he worked on without remuneration, had a belated release in 2006.

Two prominent Hindi films that he signed during the period, Mahesh Bhatt's venture with Aishwarya Rai, and Anupam Kher's directorial debut film co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, also eventually were dropped.

He briefly worked as a television presenter as the host of the third season of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi (2012–2016) on Star Vijay.

Swamy's parents are industrialist V. D. Swamy and Bharatanatyam dancer Vasantha.