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.
He has made his acting career with K. Balachander's Sundara Swapnagalu in 1986.[1] Ramesh has appeared in over 140 films besides directing about 10 films in Kannada & Tamil.[2]
In 2022, he was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to field of cinema by Rani Channamma University.[9][10] Also in 2022, he was awarded the Dr. Shivarama Karanth Award for his services as an actor, director and resource person.[11][12][13]
In 2025, Dr. Ramesh Aravind was ranked as the 4th Top Motivational Speaker in India and 28th globally by Feedspot, a leading blog and information platform. This recognition highlights his influence and impact in the field of motivational speaking.[14]
Career
Acting
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.[15] He then started his television career hosting the show Parichaya on DD1-Kannada before working on a Kannada-language film titled Mouna Geethe, in which he had a supporting role.[16][17] 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).[18] 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.[19][20]
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.[15] 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.[20]
Ramesh made his breakthrough portraying a student union leader in Vasanth's romantic drama film Keladi Kanmani (1990), whose commercial success.[21] 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).[20] 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).[20]
Ramesh Aravind scripted the film Hoomale in 1998, leading to his career in film directing.[22][23]Hoomale won Aravind the Best Actor Filmfare Award and the Karnataka State Award. His script for Amruthadhare (2005) won him the Raghvendra Chitravani Award for Best Story.[24]
When Kamal Haasan asked Aravind to direct the Tamil-language film Uttama Villain (2015), Aravind accepted the offer.[28]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.[15]
Writer
His Kannada book "Art of Success"[29] 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[30][31][32] Aravind has written and narrated the Kannada audiobook "MasadaMaatu with Ramesh", which is available on Storytel.[33]
In 2024, his popular book & the Best Seller of 2022 - 23 "Preethyinda Ramesh" was translated to Tamil language as "Anbudan Ramesh".[36]
Public speaking
Ramesh Aravind is also known for his work as a motivational speaker.[37] 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[38] He was chosen as Brand Ambassador for Bengaluru Gold Shopping Festival - Edition 2 in 2023.[39]
Television
Ramesh Aravind has hosted the following shows:[40] His show Weekend with Ramesh involves him inviting some of the prominent personalities from Karnataka to talk about their personal and professional lives.[41] His show Weekend With Ramesh Season 5 is streaming on Zee Kannada.[42][43] 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, and activities & other constant supporting abilities are appreciated by audience.[44]
Ramesh Aravind has won awards for his acting, directing and writing.[45][46] He was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Rani Channamma University for his contribution to cinema.[47] In the year 2022, he was awarded the Dr. Shivarama Karanth Award for his work as an actor, director and resource person.[48]
Ramesh Aravind was born on 10 September 1964 to P.A. Govindachari and Saroja, who are originally from Tanjore district.[53] He has four siblings.[54] He studied in Karnataka from fourth standard onwards.[53] He is married to Archana Aravind and they have two children.[54][55]
