His squeaky clean dress code, gentlemanly manners and formal demeanor make him look out of place standing in the shoes of a typical masala film hero, but Arvind Swami carries off his roles with remarkable flair.
He was the hapless hostage in Roja, the prodigal son in Bombay and a romanticizer in Sapnay. These certainly are a medley of remarkable performances from a star, who has never had any formal training in acting.
Known for his knack to experiment and play a variety of characters Arvind is now back after a long hiatus from the silver screen. This time round he is trying to woo children in director T Rajeev's elephant-centric film Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya.
In the film Arvind plays an innocent village bumpkin Mohit who lives in a dreamy world and falls head over heels in love with a city girl Manisha (Manisha Koirala). Besotted by his Rani he even moves to city to unite with his ladylove only to have some adventures living with a baby elephant and a bevy of kids in a small Mumbai apartment.
Well objectively speaking, the film is quite shoddily made and is not likely to put Arvind in the limelight. Moreover, even the film's producer R Mohan has dubbed Appu, the baby elephant as the real hero of the film.
Yet Arvind has little reason to fret. He is already among the most sought after heroes in the South. Besides he is also an exemplary entrepreneur. In fact he is the only one among the contemporary South Indian actors who also enjoys huge popularity in North and side by side maintains a healthy balance between films and business.
His squeaky clean dress code, gentlemanly manners and formal demeanor make him look out of place standing in the shoes of a typical masala film hero, but Arvind Swami carries off his roles with remarkable flair.