Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan

Not to be confused with Ashwin Kumar or Ashwin (actor, born 1987).
This article is about a person whose name includes a patronymic. The article properly refers to the person by his given name, Ashwin Kumar, and not as Lakshmikanthan.

Ashwin Kumar
Ashwin Kumar in 2021
Born
Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan

(1991-05-07) 7 May 1991 (age 33)[1]
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Education
Occupation(s)Actor
Model
Years active2014–present

Ashwin Kumar Lakshmikanthan (born 7 May 1991) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil films. He played the lead roles in Star Vijay serials Rettai Vaal Kuruvi (2015) and Ninaikka Therintha Manamae (2017), and had supportive roles in films such as O Kadhal Kanmani (2015) and Adithya Varma (2019). He rose to prominence after contesting in the 2021 reality programme Cooku with Comali 2.[2] The Times of India named him the "Most Desirable Man on Television 2020", in its Chennai Times edition.[3]

He played the lead in Enna Solla Pogirai (2022), Meet Cute (2022) and Sembi (2022).[4]

Early life and education

Born and brought up in Coimbatore, Ashwin Kumar completed his schooling in Carmel Garden. He pursued his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kumaraguru College of Technology and completed Master of Business Administration from PSG Institute of Management. During his college days, he developed a passion for acting and attended auditions for films and TV series.[5]

Career

Television

Ashwin Kumar made his television debut on Star Vijay's serial, Office. He played the lead roles in the serials Rettai Vaal Kuruvi (2015) and Ninaikka Therintha Manamae (2017).[6][7] He also played the lead in Raja Rani, a Telugu remake of the hit Tamil serial Saravanan Meenatchi on Star Maa. Following the end of the series, he appeared in the short films Blink, Cinderella, 3 Scenes of his love story, and Kadhal Ondru Kanden.[8][9][10][11]

He was one of the contestants in the cooking reality show Cooku with Comali – Season 2 on Star Vijay.[12][13][14] He was the second runner-up in the finale,[15] f

Films

At the start of his film career, Ashwin Kumar played a minor role in Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani as a colleague of Dulquer Salmaan's character. He had portrayed the role of Dhruv Vikram’s brother in the film Adithya Varma.[2]

He played the lead in the romantic comedy movie Enna Solla Pogirai (2022).[16] The film was released on the week of Pongal 2022 and a critic with the Times of India wrote "Ashwin makes a confident leap to leading man".[17]

He made his Telugu debut with Meet Cute, an anthology film directed by debutante Deepthi Ghanta and produced by Nani.[18] This Telugu anthology consists of five conversational shorts on modern-day relationships. He played the lead role in the segment, Meet the boy. He had next played the lead in Prabhu Solomon’s film, titled Sembi, alongside actors Kovai Sarala and Thambi Ramaiah.[19] Touted to be an intense social drama, set against the backdrop of Kodaikanal, the film was produced by Trident Arts.[20] The film received highly positive reviews from critics and audiences upon release and Ashwin’s performance as a lawyer, a nameless saviour was widely appreciated. A critic from Sakshi Post wrote "Ashwin Kumar as a lawyer keeps the audience on the egde of their seats in the second half with his brilliant show. He has made full use of the opportunity to prove his acting prowess".[21]

He is next playing the lead in the action thriller film titled Nodikku Nodi, directed by Vijay Adhiraj alongside actors Shaam and Narain.[22]

Web Series

Ashwin Kumar had a lead role in Thanthu Vitten Ennai, a web series produced by Zee5.[23] He was also part of the horror-thriller web series Live Telecast directed by Venkat Prabhu for Disney+ Hotstar.

Music videos and model work

Ashwin Kumar is the lead actor in the music videos "Cloning Kadhal", "Rhythm of Life" (Sony Music), "Shades of Kadhal", "Kutty Pattas" (Sony Music),[24] "Criminal Crush", "Loner", "Adipoli" (Think Music), "Baby Nee Sugar", "Yaathi Yaathi" (Sony Music), "Vaadi Vaadi" (Think Music) and VannaMayilae ( Noise and Grains).

He had given voice-over in the music audio 11:11 – Guru undu Bhayamillai, composed by Ady Kriz.[25] As a model, he has worked in multiple TV commercials and print adverts for various brands.[26] He was a brand ambassador of Zee Thirai.[27]

Controversy

During the audio launch of Enna Solla Pogirai, Ashwin's speech that he had dozed halfway through the narration of 40 stories due to weak scripts, stirred controversy with people calling him "arrogant" and "boastful". Later he apologised, stating that he was trying to speak spontaneously, not having prepared a speech, was completely distorted by fans' love and never intended to disrespect anyone.[28] The controversy is referenced in an episode of the miniseries Tamil Rockers, which led to Ashwin criticising the director Arivazhagan Venkatachalam.[29]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes films or series that have not yet been released
  • All work is in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2014 Kathai Thiraikathai Vasanam Iyakkam Arya's friend Deleted scene [2]
Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathe Maya's friend
2015 O Kadhal Kanmani Aditya's co-worker Uncredited role [5]
2019 Enai Noki Paayum Thota Saranya's groom Uncredited role
July Kaatril Shreya's yoga friend
Adithya Varma Siddharth Varma
2020 Indha Nilai Maarum Surya
2021 Oh Manapenne! Arjun [30]
2022 Enna Solla Pogirai Vikram [31]
Sembi Sembi's lawyer [20]
2023 Anni Manchi Sakunamule Ram Telugu film [32]
2024 Nodikku Nodi † TBA [22]

Television

Year Serial/show Role Channel Notes Ref.
2015 Office Ashwin Star Vijay
Rettai Vaal Kuruvi BalaMurugan
2016 Raja Rani Karthik Star Maa Telugu series
Remake of Saravanan Meenatchi
2017–2018 Ninaika Therintha Manamae Aravind Star Vijay [33]
[34]
2020–2021 Cooku with Comali – Season 2 Contestant Second runner-up [35]

Web series

Year Series Role OTT platform Notes Ref.
2020 Thanthu Vitten Ennai Vinay ZEE5 Lead – remake of Honar Sun Me Hya Gharchi
Dubbed in Telugu as Nenu c/o Nuvvu		 [36]
2021 Live Telecast Ashwin Disney+ Hotstar [37]
2022 Meet Cute Abhi SonyLIV Telugu anthology series; segment – Meet the Boy [18]

Short films

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2014 3 Santhipugal Pugazh
Bullet 350 CC Munna
2016 Pradhi Vijay
2017 Idar Shiva
2018 3 scenes of Love story Munna
2019 Blink Akshay Won Best Short Film award at SMIFA Shorts [38]
Cindrella Abhi
2020 Kadhal Ondru Kanden Mathew [39]

Music videos

Year Title Music Vocals Notes Ref.
2015 "Cloning Kadhal" Arun Sundar Syed Subahan
2017 "Rhythm of Life" Vishal Chandrasekhar Yazin Nizar
2019 "Shades of Kadhal" Maran Rajendraan Sudharshan Ashok
2021 "Kutty Pattas" Santhosh Dhayanidhi Santhosh Dhayanidhi, Rakshita Suresh Released in Telugu as "Rowdy Pattasu"
"Criminal Crush" Godson Rudolph Anirudh Ravichander, Srinisha Jayaseelan [40]
"Loner" Ady Kriz Anand Aravindakshan [41]
"Ennam Pol Vazhkai" Edwin Louis
"Adipoli" Siddhu Kumar Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sivaangi Krishnakumar [42]
"Yaathi Yaathi" Abhishek CS Yazin Nizar, Anuradha Sriram Released in Telugu as "Sathi Sathi" [43]
2022 "Baby Nee Sugar" Osho Venkat Osho Venkat [44]
"Vaadi Vaadi" Harris Jayaraj Ravi G, Sunitha Sarathy, Samuel Nicholas Jayaraj [45]
2023 "Makka Makka" Harris Jayaraj Bamba Bakya, Satyaprakash Co-starring with Mugen Rao [46]
"Vannamayilae" AK Prriyan AK Prriyan, Akshaya Shivkumar

Discography

As voice-over artist

Year Album Song Composer Ref.
2023 11:11 Guru Undu Bhayamillai Ady Kriz [25]

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
2015 Vijay Television Awards Favourite Screen Pair (with Pavani Reddy) Rettai Vaal Kuruvi Nominated
Favourite Find of The Year Nominated
2021 Trending Pair of the Year (with Sivaangi Krishnakumar) Cooku with Comali Won [47]

References

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  2. ^ a b c S, Srivatsan (27 April 2021). "Meet 'Cook with Comali' star Ashwin Kumar: The man you know, the journey you don't". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
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