Background
Arvind Swamy was born in Chennai.
Arvind Swamy was born in Chennai.
Swamy studied at the Sishya School and later in Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School and completed his schooling in 1987. He then graduated from Loyola College, Chennai in 1990 with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
He was introduced as an actor by Mani Ratnam with the film Thalapathi (1991) and subsequently starred in successful films such as Roja (1992), Bombay (1995), Minsaara Kanavu (1997) and Alaipayuthey (2000). Swamy also starred in other ventures, including the Telugu film Mounam (1995), the Malayalam film Devaraagam (1996), and the Bollywood film Saat Rang Ke Sapne (1998). Swamy spent a decade in businesses ranging from software engineering, construction, international trade to global outsourcing, before returning to acting with the 2013 Mani Ratnam"s film Kadal, and the 2015 film Thani Oruvan, and has garnered positive reception for his performances.
He then went to the United States to do his Masters 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 Santhosh Sivan introduced him into the basics of film making.
Swamy made his début in Mani Ratnam"s action drama film, Thalapathi, where he played a young district collector pitted against a don and his own biological brother. His performance in Bombay was called "soulful" by Time Magazine. In 1995, Swamy provided the Tamil dubbing voice for the adult Simba of Disney"s The Lion King (1994).
Swamy semi-retired from acting in 2000 after playing a guest role in Mani Ratnam"s Alaipayuthey and concentrated on his business interests.
Swamy was director of V Doctorate Swamy and Company and engaged in international trade and construction. He was the president of InterPro Global and the chairman and managing director of Prolease India, engaged in transaction processing.
He then founded Talent Maximus a company engaged in payroll processing and temporary staffing in India. He was the only actor in India who opposed fans associations.
He initially wanted to come back to films after 4–5 years, but was physically injured.
The treatment took another 4–5 years. After his successful treatment, Mani Ratnam called him once more to play a role in one of his films, Kadal (2013) for which Swamy lost 15 kilogrammes. In 2013, he provided the voice-over for Santhosh Sivan"s film Ceylon.
In 2015, he acted in a negative role in Thani Oruvan, for which he was praised and received positive reviews for his acting.
Subsequently Mani Ratnam signed him on to play the lead role in the 1992 political drama film Roja. He starred in Rajiv Menon"s Minsaara Kanavu, which won four National Film Awards besides high box office reviews.