Actors take years to become stars. Their persistence and hard work towards the arts create a fandom that remains unshakeable for years. Achieving success, fame, and fans is difficult, but maintaining them could be a lot more difficult. Today we will discuss an actor from Tamil cinema who was once considered a direct competitor to Rajinikanth. He was a bigger star than Thalapathy Vijay, Ajith, and even Vikram. When the term 'pan-India' wasn't even invented, he was among the top stars with a strong fanbase across the country. Despite achieving nationwide stardom, this actor quit films after an unfortunate accident.
The superstar who was called 'competitor of Rajinikanth' was...
Arvind Swamy, at 20, made his debut in Mani Ratnam’s Thalapathi, where he played a character inspired by Mahabharat’s Arjun. He starred 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 even in the North. Arvind stardom and acting credentials were boosted 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 successor to Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, but...
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The downfall of Arvind Swamy
By the late '90s, Arvind faced professional hiccups with his films that were failing at the box office. Few films including a Mahesh Bhatt film opposite Aishwarya Rai and Anupam Kher’s planned directorial debut with Amitabh Bachchan were scrapped. Then discouraged by his career, Swamy stopped acting in films after 2000 and focussed on managing his father’s business interests, working in V D Swamy and Company, and later in InterPro Global.
The accident that further dented Arvind Swamy's career
In 2005, he had an accident, which led to partial paralysis of his leg. The treatment took about 4-5 years and left him in pain for a prolonged period.
Even after quitting films, Arvind made a multi-crore business empire
In 2005, he founded his most successful endeavour to 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 made an acting comeback with...
In 2013, over a decade after his sabbatical, Swamy was persuaded by his mentor Mani Ratnam 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 Ramachandran 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.
Also read: Kartik Aaryan, Vidya Balan react to Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 vs Singham Again clash: 'Agar hum teeno bahar khade ho toh...'
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