Despite his proficiency in academics, this highly talented and versatile personality with an engineering degree, eventually chose acting and saw a glorious two-and-a-half decades in the film industry with more than 120 films to his credit in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi. Ramesh Aravind also saw huge success as a popular TV host and is now showing his prowess in direction too. The multifaceted personality — Ramesh Aravind is back in action after directing the highly critically acclaimed film – Uttama Villain (with Kamal Hassan in the lead). And this time, there are double dhamakas for the talented Bengalurean — as an actor he has recently signed two new films, and as a director he has two new films in Kannada (one bilingual). But there’s more! Two of his popular TV shows including Weekend with Ramesh are back on a high with their second seasons.
“The year 2015 was a very important period in my life because of Uttama Villain as I worked for more than one-and-a-half years on it. I also made my debut as a director in the Tamil film industry which was great. The film (Uttama) received huge critical acclaim across the globe and several awards along with special screenings at film festivals. Post Uttama Villain, I was preparing for my future projects, and they have finally started with Weekend with Ramesh’s second season. Looks like the show started with a bang, and the response has been phenomenal, and I feel it’s on the right track,” says Ramesh Aravind.
The actor, director and TV host has reportedly approved Rockline Venkatesh’s next Kannada venture starring Golden Star Ganesh and Shanvi Srivastava in the lead, along with another bilingual. As an actor, he has signed two more projects including the one which is presently titled Pushpaka Vimana, and two other TV shows.
It’s been a dream run ever since his entry in a supporting role in Sundara Swapnagalu in the late 80s. The actor who recently turned 50, says, about acting, directing and hosting TV shows, “Actually, I enjoy all three forms, whereas direction takes more time and involvement in all departments, insofar as acting is concerned, it is quite easy considering my long drawn career as an actor. Hosting a TV show is again a challenge of a different form.” He is even awaiting the release of Re directed by popular director Sunil Kumar Desai. It is an interesting film, which talks about life and hope. On the project directed by Raveendranath, a close associate of Pawan Wadeyar, he says, it is about a person who simply loves aeroplanes.
On TV shows, he adds, “It’s huge in terms of reach, one can be a star overnight, and it’s a tricky game as it is mostly personality-based. The audience connects well as they see me as Ramesh Aravind. As long as the personality is true to the show it will excel. Moreover, it inspires the common man. Talking to celebrities too is thrilling as one learns more about life. Life is beautiful, and everyone who has done good things and achieved greatness deserves to be on the show.
Ramesh believes in ‘kaizen’ – a wonderful phenomenon to constantly improve oneself, and sharpen one’s mind. Happily married to his wife Archana, his daughter Niharika and son Arjun are his pride and joy. He feels he is able to juggle so much and yet stay fit thanks to the great family support he has.
