Arun Pandian is an Indian actor, film director, film producer and politician who predominately works in Tamil films. He began his career as an actor as part of the critically acclaimed film ''

Oomai Vizhigal ''Oomai Vizhigal'' () is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language crime thriller film directed by R. Aravindraj. The film stars Vijayakanth, Arun Pandian, Karthik, Chandrasekhar and Jaishankar, along with Ravichandran and Malaysia Vasudevan in a negat ...

'' (1986). After retiring from acting, he took the post of chief producer for the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

-based

Ayngaran International Ayngaran International is a film distribution and production company, based in the United Kingdom. The chairman of the company is K. Karunamoorthy. It also operates a chain of retail video stores located in the United Kingdom, France, Canada, ...

, a film production and distribution company, however, he later started his own production and distribution company A&P Groups. He is the secretary of South Indian Film Financiers Association (Siffa) and he is also the president of South Indian Film Exporters Association (Sifea).

Politics

He became a

Member of Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...

in 2011 after contesting in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election as a

Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (; DMDK) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Vijayakant (Captai ...

(DMDK) candidate for the constituency of

Peravurani Peravurani is a panchayat town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Peravurani Taluk and Peravurani (State Assembly Constituency). It is declared as Special Grade Town Panchaya ...

. On 21 February 2016, Arun Pandian and nine other MLAs tendered their resignations prior to the Assembly election in the state. On 25 February 2016, he joined the

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK, also abbreviated as ADMK), also shortened to Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, sta ...

(AIADMK) in the presence of party general secretary and the then Tamil Nadu chief minister

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...

Family and education

Arun Pandian was born on 13 July 1958 as the son of retired Lieutenant colonel D. P. Chellaiah and resides in Tirunelveli.
/ref> His late brother C. Durai Pandian directed the film ''

Uzhiyan ''Uzhiyan'' () is a 1994 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by actor Arun Pandian's brother C. Durai Pandian. The film stars Arun Pandian and Vineetha, with Sarath Babu, Mansoor Ali Khan, Janagaraj, Mohan Natarajan, Geetha, Vijay ...

'' (1994) with Arun Pandian starring in the lead role. He has three daughters including Kavitha Pandian (who worked as a producer) and Keerthi Pandian. He holds a Bachelors in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from

Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

. His daughter Keerthi and his niece

Ramya Pandian Ramya Pandian (born 13 August 1990) is an Indian actress who works in Tamil language films. She is known for her role in '' Joker'' (2016) and '' Aan Devathai'' (2018). She was listed by the Chennai Times as the "Most Desirable Woman on Tele ...

are working as actresses.

Filmography

Tamil films

Films in other languages

As producer

As story writer

*''

'' (1993)

As distributor

*'' Sakka Podu Podu Raja'' (2017) *'' Velaikkaran'' (2017) *'' Maayavan'' (2017) *'' Sarkar'' (2018) *''

Viswasam ''Viswasam'' () is a 2019 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Siva and produced by Sathya Jyothi Films. The film stars Ajith Kumar, Nayanthara and Jagapathi Babu in the lead roles, alongside Vivek, Thambi Ramaiah, Robo S ...

'' (2019) *''

Romeo Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lord Montague, Lord Montague and his wife, Characters in Romeo and Juliet#Lady Montague, Lady Montague, he ...

'' (2024)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pandian, Arun 20th-century Indian male actors Tamil male actors Male actors from Tamil Nadu Living people 1958 births Tamil Nadu MLAs 2011–2016 Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam politicians University of Madras alumni Male actors in Tamil cinema Indian male film actors Male actors in Kannada cinema Indian actor-politicians 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors in Telugu cinema Film directors from Tamil Nadu Tamil film directors Film producers from Tamil Nadu Tamil film producers