Ranjith (actor)

Ranjith
Born	(1972-11-15) 15 November 1972 Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Occupations	Actor Film director Politician
Years active	1993–2015 2020–present
Spouses	Priya Raman ​ ​ (m. 1999; div. 2014)​ ​ ​ (m. 2018)​ Ragasudha ​ ​ (m. 2014; div. 2015)​
Children	2

Ranjith (born 15 November 1972) is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil and Malayalam language films.

Acting career

After completing a course in acting, Ranjith made his acting debut in 1993 with Pon Vilangu, directed by K. S. Rajkumar, was produced by R. K. Selvamani and he acted alongside Rahman, Sivaranjani and Ramya Krishnan. The critic K. Vijayan of New Straits Times praised Ranjith's acting citing that "Ranjith, despite his big build, impresses in his debut performance." The next year, he acted the lead role in the rural drama Sindhu Nathi Poo.

In 1996, he appeared in Minor Mappillai as the second lead and in Avathara Purushan. In 1997, he appeared in a guest appearance in Cheran's Bharathi Kannamma which was a critical and commercial success. In the start of 1998, Ranjith played as an antagonist in Maru Malarchi opposite Mammooty, the film was released to critical acclaim and he won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain for his role. Subsequently, he was flooded with offers. In the mid of 1998, he acted in the blockbuster Natpukkaga and played the villain role in Dharma. In the end of 1998, he acted in supporting role in Desiya Geetham and Pudhumai Pithan while he played one of the leads in the low-budget film Cheran Chozhan Pandian. From 1999 to 2001, he had predominantly appeared in supporting and villain roles except in Nesam Pudhusu (1999) and Kann Thirandhu Paaramma (2000) where he played the lead role.

In 2003, Ranjith directed, produced and played the title role in Bheeshmar (2003). The film became a flop in the box office. Following the failure of the film, Ranjith was not able to produce his next own film because of the lack of fund. Ranjith then ventured to do a couple of character roles in Malayalam films.

In 2005, he acted in the political satire film Padhavi Paduthum Paadu and the long delayed film Aadhikkam.

Political career

Ranjith was a member and spokesperson of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam for many years. After the death of AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa in December 2016, Ranjith started to support O. Panneerselvam's faction of AIADMK. In July 2018, Ranjith left the AIADMK and joined the Pattali Makkal Katchi as the new deputy leader of the party. On 26 February 2019, Ranjith, the vice president of PMK, quit the party citing that he could not digest S. Ramadoss and Anbumani Ramadoss' change of stance in supporting the AIADMK in the 2019 Indian general election. The next day, Ranjith met Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam's generel secretary T. T. V. Dhinakaran and joined the party officially.

Controversies

In August 2024, Ranjith sparked controversy while speaking to media, saying that caste-based honor killing was not violence; rather, it was a parent's way of showing their care towards their children. He later retracted his statement, saying that he "oppose[s] all forms of killing".

Filmography

Tamil films

List of Ranjith's Tamil film credits

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1993	Pon Vilangu	Muthu
1994	Sindhu Nathi Poo	Thirukkaval (Sakthivel)
1996	Minor Mappillai	Moses
	Avathara Purushan	Anand
1997	Bharathi Kannamma	Maayan
1998	Maru Malarchi	Manimaran	Won—Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Villain
	Ninaithen Vandhai	Vignesh
	Natpukkaga	Pasupathy (Sirusu)
	Adra Sakka Adra Sakka	Ranjith
	Dharma	Ranjith
	Desiya Geetham	Ganga
	Pudhumai Pithan	Mahesh
	Cheran Chozhan Pandian	Cheran
1999	Ninaivirukkum Varai	Sadha
	Poomaname Vaa	Nadaraj
	Kummi Paattu	Selvarasu
	Ponvizha	Velusamy
	Nesam Pudhusu	Ranjith
	Manaivikku Mariyadhai	Naresh
	Hello	Sekhar
	Iraniyan	Police officer
	Sundari Neeyum Sundaran Naanum	Sivaramakrishnan
2000	Eazhaiyin Sirippil	Doctor	Guest appearance
	Sudhandhiram	Vikram
	Kannan Varuvaan	Raghu
	Magalirkkaga	Subramani
	Ennamma Kannu	Vishwa
	Kann Thirandhu Paaramma	Prabhu
	Sabhash	Dharan
2001	Narasimha	C. P. Sharma
	Kanna Unnai Thedukiren
	Aandan Adimai	Ranjith
	Pandavar Bhoomi	Dhanapal
	Manadhai Thirudivittai	Ranjith
2003	Bheeshmar	Bheeshmar	Also director
2005	Aadhikkam	Naaga/Durai
	Padhavi Paduthum Paadu	Malayappan
2006	Don Chera	Cheran (Don Chera)
2007	En Uyirinum Melana	Vikram	Guest appearance
	Pasupathi c/o Rasakkapalayam	Pasupathi
	Thirumagan	Sivankaalai
2008	Valluvan Vasuki	Anandha Konar
	Kasimedu Govindan	Govindan
2009	Munnar	Karthikeyan
2010	Thambikku Indha Ooru	Thirumalai
	Gowravargal	Nainar
2015	Sagaptham	Chinrasu
	Adhibar	Easwaran
2024	Kavundampalayam	Kuzhanthai	Also Director

Malayalam films

List of Ranjith's Malayalam film credits

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2004	Natturajavu	Karnan
2005	Rajamanikyam	Simon Nadar
	Chandrolsavam	Ramanunni
	Lokanathan IAS	Brahmanandan
2007	Janmam
2010	Thanthonni	Neelakantan
2011	August 15	Kannan
2012	Oru Kudumba Chithram	Varunagiri
2014	Little Superman	Wilson
2017	My School
2019	Mangalath Vasundhara
2024	Kadakan

Telugu film

List of Ranjith's Telugu film credits

Year	Film	Role
1999	Sneham Kosam	Chinababu

Television series

List of television series credits

Year	Title	Role	Language	Channel
2020–2022	Senthoora Poove	Duraisingam	Tamil	Star Vijay
2023–present	Baakiyalakshmi	Pazhaniswami

Voice artist

• Manoj Bharathiraja – Kadal Pookkal (2001)