Ashok Selvan
Ashok Selvan (born 8 November 1989) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his breakthrough playing one of the lead roles in Soodhu Kavvum (2013), before gaining critical acclaim for his performances in C. V. Kumar's productions Pizza II: Villa (2013) and Thegidi (2014).
Early life
Ashok Selvan was born to Panneerselvam and Malar on 8 November 1989 in Chennimalai, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India. He moved to Chennai at age three, and completed his schooling at Santhome Higher Secondary School, Chennai before graduating in Visual Communication from Loyola College.[1] In college, Ashok Selvan participated in short films, completing a dozen short films as an actor as well as directing a few, including Green, which won Best Film at the 2012 International Tamil Youth Conference held in Singapore.[2]
Career
After graduating from college, Ashok Selvan sought opportunities in films as an actor and auditioned for roles including in Prakash Raj's production Inidhu Inidhu and Bharat Bala's 19th Step but was rejected.[3] During the period, he applied to work as an assistant director to S. J. Surya and was given the opportunity to feature in a few scenes as Suriya's friend in the director's venture 7aam Arivu, though his scenes did not make the final version. He was also featured in the title card of Chakri Toleti's Billa 2, with a childhood picture of Ashok Selvan used to represent a younger version of Ajith Kumar's titular character.[4] He then also auditioned unsuccessfully for a role in Pizza, before Nalan Kumarasamy offered him the role of Kesavan in his black comedy film, Soodhu Kavvum (2013) after seeing him in a commercial. Featuring alongside an ensemble cast including Vijay Sethupathi, Bobby Simha and Sanchita Shetty, Soodhu Kavvum became a commercial success, with Ashok Selvan being described as "fantastic" in his role of an unemployed graduate.[5][6]
Ashok Selvan was then selected to replace Vaibhav Reddy in Deepan Chakravarthy's psychological thriller Pizza II: Villa, a second film in C. V. Kumar's Pizza franchise. Portraying an English novel writer in the film, the film told the story of eerie happenings in a villa owned by Ashok Selvan's character. In order to portray the role of a 30-year-old writer, he gained weight and grew a beard within two weeks.[7] The film opened to positive reviews and above average box office collections, with a critic noting that "Ashok delivers an outstanding performance".[8][9] He collaborated with C. V. Kumar again in his third film, Thegidi, a murder mystery story directed by another newcomer P.Ramesh. Portraying a detective, Ashok Selvan featured opposite Janani Iyer, and won positive reviews for his acting in the film. A critic from Sify.com noted he "is subtle and conveys a lot through his body language and pleasing face", while another reviewer wrote "he seems to be quite proficient".[10][11] In 2017, he starred in Kootathil Oruthan, which deals with the love story of a middle bencher and its trailer has had a very positive reaction from the audience and the media.[12] His film Sila Samayangalil directed by Priyadharshan was released in Netflix and made its way to the final round at Golden Globes. The film tells the story of eight characters who arrive at a pathology lab at 9 a.m. to give their blood for an AIDS test. However, it all ends at 5 p.m. when the results arrive.[13][14] He is acting in a movie titled Oxygen directed by Ananda Krishnan and Nenjamellam Kadhal directed by Nirman. Oh My Kadavule was released on 14 Feb 2020 and was produced by his own banner Happy High Pictures in association with Axess Film Factory. Oh My Kadavule received positive reviews from critics and was a blockbuster hit at the box office.[15][16][17] The movie star cast also includes Ritika Singh and Vani Bhojan.[18][19]
Ashok Selvan made his Telugu cinema debut with the film Ninnila Ninnila along directed by Ani. I. V. Sasi in 2021.[20] The movie star cast also includes Ritu Varma, Nithya Menen.[21] He made his Malayalam cinema debut with an antagonistic role through Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham in 2021.[22]
In 2022, Ashok Selvan delivers a solid performance in Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal followed by the adult comedy film Manmadha Leelai, directed by Venkat Prabhu, which received a very positive response from the audience and critics.[23] He also appeared in the comedy horror, Hostel [24] and the mystery thriller Vezham.[25] He has play a triple role in the romantic drama Nitham Oru Vaanam.[26] He is on a success streak with Por Thozhil (2023), Saba Nayagan (2023) and Blue Star (2024) with versatile performances in each film.[27]
Personal life
On 13 September 2023, Ashok Selvan married Keerthi Pandian in a traditional Tamil wedding ceremony in Tirunelveli.[28][29] Keerthi was the executive producer of Savaale Samaali (2015).[30] They co-starred in the film Blue Star (2024).[31]
Filmography
- All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.
† | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Films
Year | Film | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Soodhu Kavvum | Kesavan | |
Pizza II: Villa | Jebin M. Jose | ||
2014 | Thegidi | Vetri | |
2015 | Orange Mittai | Hospital Paramedic | Cameo appearance |
Savaale Samaali | Karthik | ||
144 | Madan | ||
2017 | Kootathil Oruthan | Arvind | |
2018 | Sila Samayangalil | Bala Murugan | |
2020 | Oh My Kadavule | Arjun Marimuthu | |
2021 | Ninnila Ninnila | Dev | Telugu film |
Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea | Achuthan Mangattachan | Malayalam film | |
2022 | Sila Nerangalil Sila Manidhargal | Vijay Kumar | |
Manmadha Leelai | Satya | ||
Hostel | Kathir | ||
Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam | Vikram | Telugu film; cameo appearance | |
Vezham | Ashok Chandrasekar | ||
Nitham Oru Vaanam | Arjun, Veera, Prabhakaran (Prabha) | Triple role | |
Estate | Michael Devraj | Cameo appearance | |
2023 | Por Thozhil | Prakash | [32] |
Saba Nayagan | Saba (Aravind) | [33] | |
2024 | Blue Star | Ranjith | [31] |
Pon Ondru Kanden | Siva |
Web series
Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Time Enna Boss | Kabir Kannan | Amazon Prime Video | Guest appearance | [34] |
2021 | Navarasa | Varun | Netflix | Segment: Edhiri | [35] |
2023 | Modern Love Chennai | Nithiya | Amazon Prime Video | Segment: Imaigal | [36] |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Platform | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Neeya Naana | Guest | Vijay Television | As a Part of Kootathil Oruthan Movie Promotions |
2018 | Bigg Boss Tamil Season 2 | To Support Janani Iyer | ||
2019 | Spot Light | Sun Music | ||
Vanakkam Tamizha | Sun TV | Special Show | ||
2020 | As a Part of Oh My Kadavule Movie Promotions | |||
Oh My Kadavule Special Show | Kalaignar TV | |||
2023 | Cooku with Comali (season 4) | Vijay Television | As a Part of Por Thozhil Movie Promotions |
Music video
Year | Title | Co Star | Singer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Maayam Seidhai Poove | Malavika Jayaram | Pranav Giridharan | Duet song |
References
- ^ "Ashok met his first love in college". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 21 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
- ^ "Ashokselvan's short film directorial won an award". The Times of India. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
- ^ "Interview with Ashok Selvan". Only Kollywood. 3 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
- ^ "I thought I was not destined for cinema: Ashok Selvan". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "Soodhu Kavvum review". Rediff. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "Movie review: Soodhu Kavvum". Sify. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "Transformed from boy to man for Pizza 2: Ashok Selvan". IBN Live. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ "Pizza 2 - Villa is a must watch". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "Pizza 2 - Villa is a gripping suspense thriller". Rediff. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "Thegidi review". Sify. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "Review: Thegidi is an exciting thriller". Rediff. Archived from the original on 9 March 2014. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
- ^ "IndiaGlitz - Ashok Selvan Priya Anand Nivas K Prasanna Kootathil Oruthan Audio Launch held with Suriya as chief guest - Tamil Movie News". Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ "Sila Samayangalil: Priyadarshans film enters final round for Golden Globe Award". Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ "Ashok Selvan on Sila Samayangalil and its festival response". Behindwoods. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
- ^ S, Srivatsan (13 February 2020). "'Oh My Kadavule' movie review: An endearing romcom exploring a second chance at love/ life". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
- ^ "Oh My Kadavule review: Of friendship, romance and second chances". The Indian Express. 14 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ^ "Oh My Kadavule review: A breezy feel-good romantic entertainer". Sify. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ "OH MY KADAVULE MOVIE REVIEW". Behindwoods. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ^ "'Oh my kadavule' Film Review: A beautiful tale of friendship, love and more". DT Next. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
- ^ "Ashok Selvan to make his Telugu debut". The Hindu. 19 October 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
- ^ "அசோக் செல்வனின் 'தீனி' படம் அப்டேட்..!". Samayam Tamil (in Tamil). Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ C. R., Sharanya (30 January 2019). "Ashok Selvan to make his Malayalam debut with Mohanlal's magnum opus". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "Ashok Selvan reveals that he shot for intimate scenes when he had COVID-19!".
- ^ "Ashok Selvan's Hostel release date announced".
- ^ "Vezham Movie Review: A middling thriller with a pensive ending".
- ^ "Ashok Selvan's 'Nitham Oru Vaanam' first look; actor charms in a triple role".
- ^ "Ashok Selvan teams up with 'Ponniyin Selvan' actress and 'Jailer' actor for his next? - Deets".
- ^ "Ashok Selvan, Keerthi Pandian tie the knot in close-knit traditional ceremony. See photos". The Indian Express. 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ "Ashok Selvan and Keerthi Pandian are married. Check out dreamy first official wedding pics". Hindustan Times. 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
- ^ "Savaale Samaali Official Theatrical Trailer 2 | Ashok Selvan | Bindu Madhavi | Thaman" – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ a b "Ashok Selvan, Shanthnu Bhagyaraj, and Keerthi Pandian in Pa Ranjith's cricket-based film". Times of India. 15 August 2022.
- ^ "'Por Thozhil' trailer out, Sarath Kumar and Ashok Selvan go serial-killer hunting". The Hindu. 30 May 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ^ "Ashok Selvan's new rom-com titled Saba Nayagan". Cinema Express. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ^ "Time Enna Boss trailer: A fun Tamil series about time travel". The Indian Express. 15 September 2020. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
- ^ https://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movies-cinema-news-16/ashok-selvans-latest-revelation-about-his-role-in-navarasa-surprises-fans.html [bare URL]
- ^ "Modern Love Chennai to premiere on Prime Video on May 18. See poster". India Today. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
External links
- Ashok Selvan at IMDb