Arvind Swamy, who was once called the successor to Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, left films to build a business empire worth Rs 3300 crore and even battled an injury that gave him paralysis.
If you begin your film career at the age of 20 in a Mani Ratnam film alongside cinema legends like Rajinikanth and Mammootty, you are bound to expect a good road ahead. And then, when your next few releases include two pan-India hits, you are rightfully tagged the next big thing, a superstar in the making. So, not many can predict such an actor qould quite films before turning 30 to focus on business. But this Tamil star from the 90s did just that, and then built a massive business empire, before making a succesful return to films. Oh, an in between all this, he battled paralysis. The man in question – Tamil actor Arvind Swamy!
How Arvind Swamy’s career took a dream start
In 1991, at the age of 20, Arvind Swamy made his film debut in Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi, where he played a character inspired by Mahabharat’s Arjun. He went on to star in two massive national hits from Ratnam – Roja in 1992 and Bombay in 1995. The success of these films firmly established him as a star. His stardom and acting credentials saw a further boost when he starred in the 1997 National Award-winning film Minsaara Kanavu alongside Kajol. The following year, he made his Bollywood debut opposite Juhi Chawla in Saat Rang Ke Sapne. By now, he was being regarded as the next big thing in Tamil cinema, the natural sucessor to Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan. But it was not to be.
Why Arvind Swamy quit acting at 30 and battled paralysis
By the late-90s, his films were not doing well at the box office. A couple of his films as lead actor were dropped, including a Mahesh Bhatt film opposite Aishwarya Rai and Anupam Kher’s planned directorial debut with Amitabh Bachchan. Then, two of his films spent years in production. Discouraged by this trajectory of his career, Swamy stopped acting in films after 2000. He focussed on managing his father’s business interests, working in V D Swamy and Company, and later in InterPro Global. In 2005, he ha an accident, which led to partial paralysis of his leg. The treatment took about 4-5 years and left him in pain for prolonged period of time.
Arvind Swamy’s net worth and business empire
While he had already been a successful businessman in the early 2000s, in 2005, he founded his most successful endeavour till date. Just before his injury, Swamy founded Talent Maximus, a company engaged in payroll processing and temporary staffing in India. As per multiple market tracking portals like RocketReach, in 2022, the revenue of Talent Maximus was a whopping $418 million (Rs 3300 crore). Swamy continues to be involved in the operations of the company.
Arvind Swamy’s comeback to films
In 2013, over a decade after his sabbatical, Swamy was coaxed by his mentor Mani Ratam to return to films with his project Kadal. The actor eventually began doing more roles but has been more selective in his second innings. In 2021, he made his comeback to Bollywood as well, when he played MG Ramchandran opposite Kangana Ranaut in the Tamil-Hindi bilingual Thalaivii. Swamy also made his directorial debut in one of the stories of the Netflix anthology Navarasa in 2021.
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 "Arvind Swamy continues to look after his business even after returning to films")
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