Ramesh Aravind

Ramesh Aravind is an Indian actor, director, TV show host, screenwriter, motivational speaker and author. Ramesh Aravind has been in the entertainment industry for over 34 years and has works in six languages. He has acted in more than 140 movies.

He has predominantly worked in Kannada. He also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He is known for his roles in Shivaji Surathkal, Pushpaka Vimana, Rama Shama Bhama, Sathi Leelavathi, Duet, America America, Thutta Mutta, Nammoora Mandara Hoove, O Mallige, Apthamitra, Ulta Palta, Hoomale, Mungarina Minchu, Chandramukhi Pranasakhi 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.

He's also the brand ambassador of BHIVE Workspace, Cycle Agarbattis, Turbo Steel and Vidwath mobile app.

He is the host of Weekend with Ramesh show which has had four successful seasons on Zee Kannada and also hosted Season 3 of Kannadada Kotiyadipathi, the Kannada version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

He was appointed by BBMP as the Awareness Ambassador for COVID-19.

Actor
He has to his credit over 100 Kannada films, 30 Tamil films, 10 Telugu films and 2 Hindi films as the leading man. As of June 2020, he is acting in the lead role in two Kannada movies - 100 and Bhairadevi.

During his stint at engineering college, Ramesh Aravind worked as an emcee to award functions, notably as 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. He then started off by hosting a show on Kannada television, before beginning work on a Kannada-language film titled Mouna Geethe where he had 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 in which he had acted first. 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. 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.

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 till 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). 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 Xpress (2005). He was also a celebrity RJ in Big FM.

Writing
He scripted the national award-winning film Hoomale in 1998 and this paved the way for his foray into the field of film direction. 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 Raghvendra Chitravani Award for Best Story. After that, he started writing stories for the movies he directed.

Direction
Ramesh Aravind's first directorial venture was the successful - Rama Shama Bhama with Kamal Haasan. The second film that he directed was Sathyavan Savithri. His third directorial venture was Accident. His next directorial venture was a comedy flick released in 2009 Venkata in Sankata. He directed Nammanna Don in 2012.

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 in 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.

Motivational Speeches
Through his motivational speeches and videos he has inspired millions of youngsters to believe in themselves and succeed big without compromising on personal integrity.

He has presented on various platforms like TedX. His recent inspirational video message shot at BHIVE received over half a million views within 24 hours. His second BHIVE video received well over one million views and more than 25,000 shares. Through his motivational speeches and videos he has inspired millions of youngsters to believe in themselves and succeed without compromising on personal integrity.

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).

Television
Ramesh Aravind also appeared as the host of the following shows:

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

Author
He has authored two books - one fun inspirational book titled It's No Fun without You (It's no F_N without U) and a Kannada book Khushyinda Ramesh. He occasionally writes columns for Kannada and English daily papers.

Social causes

 * He is the District Icon for Election Commission for Bangalore City to encourage ethical voting.
 * He is the brand ambassador for:
 * CHILDREN’S MOVEMENT FOR CIVIC AWARENESS which aims at keeping the cities of Bangalore, Hubli and Mysore clean and green
 * DIGNITY FOUNDATION which aims at graceful life for senior citizens.
 * NAMMA BENGALURU AWARDS given to unsung heroes of the city.
 * He has also been part of several campaigns to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS in Karnataka.