Arav

Arav
Born	Nafeez Kizar Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupation(s)	Actor, Model
Years active	2014–present
Spouse	Raahei ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	2

Arav (/ɑːrəv/ born as Nafeez Kizar) is an Indian actor and model who works in the Tamil film industry. After making his acting debut through the Vijay Antony-starrer Saithan (2016), he became known after winning the first season of the Tamil reality television show Bigg Boss hosted by Kamal Haasan.^[1]

Career

Arav was born in Nagercoil in southern Tamil Nadu 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, where Arav spent his formative years. He did his schooling in Trichy at Kamala Niketan Montessori School before moving to Chennai to pursue a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Hindustan University.^[2]

At the start of his career, Arav portrayed minor background characters in films, notably being seen in Mani Ratnam's O Kadhal Kanmani (2015) as a colleague of Dulquer Salmaan's character.^[3] Arav then portrayed his first major role in Pradeep Krishnamoorthy's psychological thriller, Saithan (2016), portraying a negative supporting role alongside Vijay Antony 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).^[4][5][6]

In 2017, Arav appeared as a contestant on the television show Bigg Boss hosted by Kamal Haasan. 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.^[7][8] 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.^[9][10] 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.^[11]

Personal life

Arav married actress Raahei in September 2020.^[12] They have a son, born in November 2021,^[13] and a daughter born in October 2023.^[14]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2015	O Kadhal Kanmani	Adhi's co worker	Uncredited
2016	Saithan	Nataraj
2019	Market Raja MBBS	Market Raja
2022	Kalaga Thalaivan	Arjun
2023	Maruthi Nagar Police Station	Nedunchezhiyan
2025	Vidamuyarchi	TBA

Short films

• Oru Cup Coffee (2015)^{[15][16][17][18]}

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

1. "I don't think I should have avoided Oviya: Arav". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
2. "Bigg Boss Tamil: Few interesting facts about Aarav, winner of Season 1- News Nation". newsnation.in. 1 October 2017. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
3. Hooli, Shekhar H (October 2017). "Bigg Boss Tamil winner: 6 things you need to know about Aarav". ibtimes.co.in. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
4. "Arav's next is a dark horror". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
5. "Arav to play a cop in his next, a thriller". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
6. "'Meendum Vaa Arugil Vaa' is a nail-biting horror thriller". Sify. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
7. "Aarav confesses to kissing Oviya in Big Boss house - Tamil Movie News - IndiaGlitz". indiaglitz.com. 7 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
8. "Bigg Boss Tamil: Aarav's confession, Juliana's exit, while an assertive Kamal Haasan shows he is the Bigg Boss". indianexpress.com. 7 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
9. "Arav to play a cop in his next, a thriller". indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
10. "Arav announces his first film after Bigg Boss Tamil win". newindianexpress.com. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
11. "Arav Signs New Film With DhaDha 87 Director Vijay Sri". silverscreen.in. 30 July 2018. Archived from the original on 27 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
12. "'Bigg Boss' fame Arav weds actor Raahei in private ceremony". The News Minute. 6 September 2020. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
13. "Arav and Raahei are blessed with a baby boy". The Times of India. 24 November 2021. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
14. "'Bigg Boss Tamil' fame Arav blessed with a baby girl". The Times of India. 10 October 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
15. "Theatre's T-20 format lures Chennai youth on stage". dtnext.in. 3 July 2017. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017.
16. "want-some-coffee". The Hindu. thehindu.com. 17 February 2015. Archived from the original on 29 October 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
17. "CISFF - Chennai International Short Film Festival". www.cisff.in. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
18. "Ist Ahmednagar Short Film Festival" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.

External links

• Arav on Twitter
• Arav at IMDb

Preceded by Show created

Bigg Boss Tamil Winner (Series 1) 2017

Succeeded by Riythvika