Pasupathy (born 5 September 1967) is an Indian actor. He appeared in critically acclaimed roles in many noted films in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

, playing supporting, antagonistic, comedic as well as protagonistic roles. His performance in '' E'' (2006) earned him a

Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by ''Filmfare'' as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role. Although the awards star ...

and a Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also won an ITFA Best Supporting Actor Award for his role in ''

Kuselan ''Kuselan'' is a 2008 Indian Tamil-language dramedy film directed by P. Vasu. An official remake of the Malayalam film '' Kadha Parayumbol'' (2007), it was produced by Pushpa Kandaswamy, Aswani Dutt and G. P. Vijayakumar in two languages. ''Kus ...

'' (2008). He has also appeared in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

, and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

films.

Early life

Pasupathy Masilamani was born in 1967 at Vannandurai, a northern neighbourhood

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India. In 1984, he joined the Chennai-based theatre group "

Koothu-P-Pattarai Koothu-P-Pattarai is a prominent Tamil theatre group that has organised plays for 31 years. The group has its base in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in South India. It conducts speech training in a theatre speech laboratory and conducts workshops teaching ...

" where he was there till 1997. He studied and grew up there till he started to act in films. He became friends with actor Nassar who was in the film institute and later joined the Koothu-P-Pattarai.

Career

When he was working in ''

Marudhanayagam ''Marudhanayagam'' is an unfinished Indian historical drama film directed and produced by Kamal Haasan under his Raaj Kamal Films International banner. The script was co-written by Haasan, along with novelist Sujatha, and the pair started work ...

'', Nassar asked him whether he was interested in films. Pasupathy was then introduced to

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 f ...

and he was given the villain role in ''Marudhanayagam''. Pasupathy stated "That was the first time I was before the camera". ''Marudhanayagam'' was shelved and Nasser's ''Mayan'' which he was also part of was his first release. He got his first major recognised role in ''

Virumaandi ''Virumaandi'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written, co-edited, produced, and directed by Kamal Haasan, who also performed in the title role. The film revolves around the interview of two prison inmates, firstly, Kothala Th ...

'' as Kothaala Thevar. He later began appearing in negative roles in a number of films such as '' Dhool'', ''

Sullan ''Sullan'' is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Ramana. It stars Dhanush, along with Sindhu Tolani, Manivannan, Pasupathy and Easwari Rao among others. The film was composed by Vidyasagar. The film was opened on ...

'', '' Madhurey'' and '' Thirupaachi''. He later branched out into comedy with ''

Mumbai Xpress ''Mumbai Xpress'' is a 2005 Indian bilingual black comedy film directed by Singeetam Srinivasa Rao and produced by Kamal Haasan. It stars Kamal Haasan himself in the lead role alongside Manisha Koirala. The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, w ...

'' and ''

Majaa ''Majaa'' is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by Shafi, starring Vikram, Asin, Pasupathy, Vadivelu, Anu Prabhakar, Vijayakumar, Manivannan, Murali and Biju Menon (in his Tamil debut). The music was composed by Vidyasagar. It t ...

''. His first lead role was in the

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

winning film ''

Veyyil ''Veyil'' ( en, Sunshine, italics=yes or ''Sun Blaze'') is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language drama film written and directed by Vasanthabalan. Bharath and Pasupathy are the male leads whereas Bhavana, Priyanka and Sriya Reddy plays the female le ...

''. He further played lead roles in '' Raman Thediya Seethai'', in which he appeared as a blind radio jockey, and ''

'' in which he was seen as a village barber. In ''

Aravaan ''Aravaan'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil language epic historical film directed by Vasanthabalan, based on Su. Venkatesan's novel ''Kaaval Kottam''. It was released in 2012 and stars Aadhi, Dhansika, Archana Kavi and Pasupathy. Kabir Bedi has ...

'', a period-based action drama, he played Kombhoodhi, the warrior head of a village in the 18th Century, for which he had trained at the gym for six months. His role as Annachi in the 2013 Tamil film Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara won critical accolades. He acted in an independent English film called ''The Last Vision'', film made by youngsters from Kerala for festivals. Pasupathy's upcoming films include ''Appavin Meesai'', directed by Rohini, where he plays a therukooththu artiste, ''

Mosakutty ''Mosakutty'' () is a 2014 Tamil-language drama film directed by M. Jeevan and produced by John Max under the banner of Shalom Studios. It features actors Veera and Mahima Nambiar in the lead roles. The film is set in Madurai and Kerala. The fi ...

'', where he essays a positive role, ''Sakunthalaavin Kaadhalan'', '' Yagavarayinum Naa Kaakka'', directed by actor

Aadhi ''Aadhi'' is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. The film stars Pranav Mohanlal in the title role (in his debut adult role) and features Jagapathi Babu, Siddique, Lena, Aditi Ravi, An ...

's brother Sathya Prabhas Pinisetty, '' Anjala'', directed by Thangam Saravanan and Vetrimaran's untitled film with Dhanush and Vijay Milton's untitled film with Vikram. In 2014, Pasupathy played Aditya Karikalan in a theatrical adaptation of '' Ponniyin Selvan''.

Filmography

Films

Theatre

Web series

References

External links

* , - ! colspan="3" style="background: #DAA520;" ,

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

, - , - {{authority control 1969 births Living people Tamil male actors Filmfare Awards South winners International Tamil Film Award winners Male actors from Chennai Male actors in Tamil cinema Male actors in Malayalam cinema Indian male film actors 21st-century Indian male actors Tamil actors Male actors in Telugu cinema