Ramesh Aravind

Ramesh Aravind (born 10 September 1964), known mononymously as Ramesh, is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and television presenter. Ramesh has predominantly worked in Kannada and Tamil films along with a few Telugu and Hindi films. Starting his acting career with Sundara Swapnagalu in 1986, Ramesh has appeared in over 140 films besides directing about 10 films. He has so far received two Karnataka State Film Awards namely, for America America (1997) and Hoomale (1998) besides winning Best Story award for his writing; two Filmfare Awards South, two Udaya Film Awards and Suvarna Film Awards.

Ramesh has largely appeared in romantic drama films such as Penmani Aval Kanmani, Keladi Kanmani, Vasanthakala Paravai, Anuraga Sangama, Karpoorada Gombe, Duet, Nammoora Mandara Hoove, Amrutha Varshini, America America (1997), Ulta Palta (1997), O Mallige, Mungarina Minchu and Thutta Mutta. Many of these films have completed a successful 100-day run upon theatrical release. He portrayed many roles in triangular love stories where he ended up losing the love interests and this earned him a sobriquet titled Thyagaraja (lit. 'The one who sacrifices'). After a stint at direction, Ramesh returned to act performance oriented roles in films such as 'Apthamitra, Pushpaka Vimana (2017) and Shivaji Surathkal''.

Ramesh hosts the television show Weekend with Ramesh, which has aired for five seasons on Zee Kannada so far. He also hosted Season 3 of Kannadada Kotyadhipati, the Kannada version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) appointed Aravind as the awareness ambassador for COVID-19. He is the Brand Ambassador for 7 Wonders of Karnataka campaign jointly done by Suvarna News and Tourism Dept of Karnataka.

In 2022, he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to field of cinema by Rani Channamma University. Also in 2022, he was awarded the Dr. Shivarama Karanth Award for his services as an actor, director and resource person.

Acting
Ramesh Aravind has starred 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. 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. 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. 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.

Ramesh 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). In his return to Tamil films since the mid-1990s, Ramesh frequently collaborated with Kamal Haasan on projects including the unreleased Kanden Seethaiyai (1996), Panchathantiram (2002) and Mumbai Xpress (2005). Subsequently, he returned to the Bangalore-based film industry to work in Kannada films. He appeared in several consecutive commercially successful Kannada films including Anuraga Sangama, Karpoorada Gombe, Nammoora Mandara Hoove, Amrutha Varshini, America America, Ulta Palta, O Mallige, Mungarina Minchu, and Thutta Mutta, becoming one of the industry's highest-paid actors. Ramesh was also a celebrity talk-radio host on Big FM. His more recent notable appearance was in Shivaji Surathkal 2 which was released all over cinema theatres on 14 April 2023.

Writing
Ramesh Aravind scripted the film Hoomale in 1998, leading to his career in film directing. 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.

His Kannada book "Art of Success" which is a collection of his quotes, became a bestseller. His recent book "Preetiyinda Ramesh" as highly successful with 5 editions in 5 months of release  Aravind has written and narrated the Kannada audiobook "MasadaMaatu with Ramesh", which is available on Storytel.

In 2024, His popular book & the Best Seller of 2022 - 23 "Preethyinda Ramesh" was translated to Tamil language as "Anbudan Ramesh".

Directing
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.

When Kamal Haasan asked Aravind to direct the Tamil-language film Uttama Villain, Aravind accepted the offer. Uttama Villain is the first Aravind-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.

Public speaking
Ramesh Aravind is also known for his work as a motivational speaker. A message in his voice was used as ringtone urging voters to vote in 2023 Assembly elections over Jio, Airtel platforms because of his noncontroversial and neutral image He was chosen as Brand Ambassador for Bengaluru Gold Shopping Festival - Edition 2 in 2023.

Television
Ramesh Aravind has hosted the following shows: His popular show "Weekend with Ramesh" has a milestone of completing 100 Achievers of Karnataka on its red seat. 5 Seasons, 100 Achievers, 1 Show has highest TRP rating is another milestone. Host Ramesh Aravind invites some of the prominent personalities from Karnataka to talk about their personal and professional lives. His show Weekend With Ramesh Season 5 is streaming on Zee Kannada. Dr. Ramesh Aravind turns as "Master-Mind" or Maha Guru for the show Mahanati [2024] telecasting every weekend in Zee Kannada channel. His inspirational speeches, fun activities & other constant supporting abilities are appreciated by audience. Master Mind or Mahaguru in the happening reality-show Mahanati [Season 01] on Zee Kannada Channel

Awards
Ramesh Aravind has won awards for his acting, directing and writing. He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Rani Channamma University for his contribution to cinema. In the year 2022, he was awarded the Dr. Shivarama Karanth Award for his work as an actor, director and resource person.

Personal life
Ramesh Aravind was born on 10 September 1964 to P.A. Govindachari and Saroja. He has four siblings. He is married to Archana Aravind, and they have two children.