Arav (; born as Nafeez Kizar) is an Indian model and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

who works in the Tamil film industry. After making his acting debut through the

Vijay Antony Vijay Antony (born 24 July 1975) is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor, film editor, lyricist, audio engineer, and filmmaker working predominantly in Tamil cinema. He made his debut as music composer in 2005. He is the first India ...

-starrer ''

Saithan ''Saithan'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil-language action thriller film written and directed by Pradeep Krishnamoorthy. The film stars Vijay Antony in a dual role with Arundhati Nair, Charuhasan, Y. G. Mahendra, Siddhartha Shankar and Kitty among ...

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

Bigg Boss ''Bigg Boss'' is an Indian reality television game show franchise based on the Dutch reality show '' Big Brother''. It is produced by Endemol Shine India through Viacom18 and Disney Star. Subsequently, the various versions of the show are made ...

'' hosted by

Kamal Haasan Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...

Career

Arav was born in

Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on an ...

in southern

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is 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 India ...

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 () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or 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 bein ...

, where Arav spent his formative years. He did his schooling in Trichy at

Kamala Niketan Montessori School Kamala Niketan Montessori School (KNMS) is a school located in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu Tiruchirappalli () (Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the ...

before moving to Chennai to pursue a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from

Hindustan University Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS), formerly Hindustan College of Engineering, is a deemed-to-be-university headquartered in Chennai, India. It was founded in 1985 by K.C.G. Verghese and was conferred the "University Status ...

. Following his education, Arav attempted the Civil Service Exams before settling for a job with

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Daimler India Commercial Vehicles Pvt. Ltd. is a subsidiary of the German Daimler Truck AG. This company designs, manufactures, and sells commercial vehicles that cater to the demands of Indian customers and are designed with nation's terrain ...

and then with Apollo Tyres. He was talent-spotted by celebrity photographer V. S. Anandhakrishna who introduced Arav to the world of modelling and held a shoot with him, prompting a

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

-based garment company to approach him within a week of the shoot. He subsequently went on to do more than three hundred TV commercials and print ads for brands, establishing himself in the South Indian modelling industry. At the start of his career, Arav portrayed minor background characters in films, notably being seen in

Mani Ratnam Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six Nat ...

's ''

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

'' (2015) as a colleague of

Dulquer Salmaan Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...

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

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

and Arundathi Nair. 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 ''Lifeu Ishtene'' (2011), ''Barfi'' (2011), Un Samay ...

. 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.

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 Kizar, Arav People from Kanyakumari district Year of birth missing (living people)