Arav ( born as Nafeez Kizar) is an Indian actor and model who works in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

film industry. After making his acting debut through the

Vijay Antony Frances Antony Cyril Raja (born 24 July 1975), known professionally as Vijay Antony, is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor, film editor, lyricist, audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his d ...

-starrer ''

Saithan ''Saithan'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language psychological action thriller film written and directed by Pradeep Krishnamoorthy in his directoral debut . The film stars Vijay Antony in a dual role as father and son with Arundhati Nair, Charuhasa ...

'' (2016), he became known after winning the first season of the Tamil reality television show ''

Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality show franchise based on the Dutch reality show '' Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through JioStar Network. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made internationally availabl ...

'' hosted by

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

Career

Arav was born in

Nagercoil Nagercoil, natively spelt as Nāgarkovil (, "Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a Municipal Corporation city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the ...

in southern

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

as Nafeez Kizar on 31 October 1990. His father worked as a professor at Trichy Government Law College, which prompted the family to shift to

Trichy Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

, where Arav spent his formative years. He did his schooling in Trichy at Kamala Niketan Montessori School before moving to Chennai to pursue a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Hindustan University. At the start of his career, Arav portrayed minor background characters in films, notably being seen in

Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. H ...

's ''

O Kadhal Kanmani ''O Kadhal Kanmani'' (), also known as ''OK Kanmani'', is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language musical romantic drama film written, directed and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Dulquer Salmaan and Nithya Menen, portraying a young couple in a ...

'' (2015) as a colleague of

Dulquer Salmaan Dulquer Salmaan (; born 28 July 1983) is an Indian actor, singer and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. One of the highest paid Malayalam actors, Salmaan is a recipient of several awards including five Film ...

's character. Arav then portrayed his first major role in Pradeep Krishnamoorthy's psychological thriller, ''

'' (2016), portraying a negative supporting role alongside

. He will next be seen portraying the leading role of a police officer in the horror film '' Meendum Vaa Arugil Vaa'' (2017). In 2017, Arav appeared as a contestant on the television show ''

'' hosted by

. After entering the house on the first day of the show, he survived eviction for hundred days and finished as the first season's winner. The success of his appearance on the show, prompted several filmmakers to approach him to play lead roles in their films. He first signed a project with director Saravanan, while he also has a film with director Maran, where he portrays a police officer and features opposite actress

Samyukta Hornad Samyukta Hornad is an Indian actress who appears in Kannada films. Her debut movie was '' Lifeu Ishtene'' directed by Pawan Kumar. She is known for her roles in the commercially successful films '' Barfi'' (2011), and '' Oggarane'' (2014). Ea ...

. A further project is the feature-length adaptation of Manikandan's short film – ''Meendum Oru Punnagai'', which is being directed by Sameer Bharat Ram. Another film in production is ''Brain'', directed by Vijay Sri.

Personal life

Arav married actress Raahei in September 2020. They have a son, born in November 2021, and a daughter born in October 2023.

Filmography

Short films

*''Oru Cup Coffee'' (2015)

Television

*'' Bigg Boss Tamil Season 1'' (2017) as Contestant/Winner *''Bigg Boss Tamil Season 2'' (2018) (Guest From Day 88 to 89) *''BB Jodigal Guest - Grand Launch''

References

External links

* * {{authority control Living people Indian male film actors Kizar, Arav People from Kanyakumari district Tamil Muslims 1990 births Bigg Boss (Tamil TV series) winners