Kaali Venkat (born 5 May 1984) is an Indian actor who mainly appears in Tamil language films in supporting roles.[1]

Kaali Venkat
Born
Venkat

(1984-05-05) 5 May 1984 (age 39)
OccupationActor
Years active2008–present
Spouse
Janani
(m. 2017)

Personal life edit

Venkat hails from Kudaiyadevanpatti[2] a village near Kovilpatti.[3] Venkat used to act in dramas during his school days. With an ambition to act in films he moved from his village to Chennai in 1997 to enter the Tamil film industry.[2] In Chennai, he was doing jobs like selling groceries in order to survive until he met director Vijay Prabakaran. Prabakaran, who Venkat considers his guru, coached and taught him "everything I know about cinema today".[2]

Venkat got married on 30 October 2017 in Chennai.[4]

Career edit

The first film Venkat acted was also by Vijay Prabhakaran, Thasaiyinai Thee Sudinum. The film failed to release but Venkat decided to keep his character name in it, Kaali, as his screen name after everybody on the set was calling him by that name.[3] He then acted in various short films made for the Kalaignar TV show Naalaya Iyakkunar and won the Best Actor in a Series Award in Season 3 of the show.[2][3] After a series of small roles in various feature films, he first gained attention with his role in the action drama Thadaiyara Thaakka. The short films fetched him small roles in bigger projects like Kalakalappu and Udhayam NH4.[3] He played a substantial role in mystery thriller Thegidi, which went on to become a sleeper hit and Venkat stated that he was flooded with friend requests on Facebook post the film's release.[2]

Venkat has acted in a number of films, including Mundaasupatti, Kaathadi, Urumeen, India Pakistan and Eetti.[3] Mundaasupatti, based on the same-titled short film which Venkat was also part of,[3] will see him playing the role of an assistant photographer called Azhagasami.[2] In 2016, Kaali portrayed a drunkard father in Irudhi Suttru and a loyal friend of a politician in Kodi. In 2020, he acted in Suriya's Soorarai Potru.[5]

Filmography edit

Films edit

Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Notes
2010 Va Mano
Agam Puram Sangu's henchman Uncredited[6]
Nellu Kaalimuthu
2011 Sabash Sariyana Potti Sekhar
Mounaguru Hospital compounder
2012 Thadaiyara Thaakka Alphonse
Kalakalappu Raghu's friend
2013 Udhayam NH4 Constable Anbu
Pizza II: Villa Ponraj
Vizha Paandi
2014 Vu Veerakumar
Kerala Nattilam Pengaludane Kesavan
Vaayai Moodi Pesavum Palani
Thegidi Nambi
Poovarasam Peepee Magudi
Mundaasupatti Azhagumani
2015 India Pakistan Selvam
Maari Aarumugam
Sathuran Kumar
Urumeen Suda
Eetti Senthil
2016 Irudhi Suttru Saamikannu/Samuel
Saala Khadoos Hindi film
Miruthan Chinamalai
Mapla Singam Anbuchelvan's friend
Darling 2 Rafi
Theri Ganesan
Katha Solla Porom Watchman
Iraivi Bhagyam
Raja Manthiri Suriya
Kodi Bhagat Singh
2017 Enakku Vaaitha Adimaigal Mohideen
Kattappava Kanom Keechan
Maragadha Naanayam Chidambaram
Pichuva Kaththi Sampath
Mersal Poongodi's father
Uruthikol Munusamy
Annadurai Karna
Velaikkaran Vinoth
2018 Nagesh Thiraiyarangam Kaala
Kaathadi Muruga
Irumbu Thirai Gnanavel Raja
Ghajinikanth Uthaman
Ratsasan Venkat
Aan Devathai Kaali
Maari 2 Aarumugam
2019 Kazhugu 2 Kaali
Magamuni Doctor Raghu
Petromax Thangam
2020 Soorarai Pottru Kaali
Thatrom Thookrom Pandian
Kanni Raasi Detective Jaishankar
2021 Eeswaran Astrologer Kaali
Sarpatta Parambarai Koni Chandran
4 Sorry Selvi's uncle
Thalli Pogathey Omkar
Onaan Guna
2022 Veerapandiyapuram Solomon
Ayngaran Ezhumalai
Don Arivu
1945 Krishna
Gargi Indrans Kaliyaperumal Won—Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award for Best Supporting Actor[7]
Dejavu Ezhumalai [8]
Sinam Kadal
Nitham Oru Vaanam Prabha's assistant
Gatta Kusthi Sattanathan
2023 Rudhran Shakti
Veeran Narayana
Kadapuraa Kalaikuzhu
Aneethi Thiru's father
Echo
Pizza 3: The Mummy Daamu
Harkara Kaali
Kida Vellaichamy
2024 Captain Miller Kumastha Kanagasabai

Web series edit

Year Title Role Platform Notes
2018 Vella Raja Pugazhendi Amazon Prime Video [9]
2019 Thiravam Sengi ZEE5 [10]
2022 Paper Rocket Francis

References edit

  1. ^ "Kaali makes an impact as comedian". Sify. 29 April 2014. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Gupta, Rinku (1 May 2014). "'Flooded with friend requests post Thegidi'". New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f ""Vijay Sethupathi has not changed one bit", Kaali Venkat". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Jaṉaṉiyaik karam piṭittār kāḷi veṅkaṭ". The Hindu (in Tamil). 30 October 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  5. ^ K, Janani (18 October 2016). "Kodi will be a milestone in my career: Kaali Venkat". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Agam Puram Full Movie | Shaam | Meenakshi | Anandaraj | Sundar C Babu | 12b Shaam | Sham New Movies". Ayngaran. 2 December 2019. Event occurs at 21:38 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ https://cinema.vikatan.com/kollywood/celebrating-excellence-highlights-from-the-ananda-vikatan-cinema-awards-2022
  8. ^ Rajendran, Gopinath (21 July 2021). "Naveen Chandra to star in 'Dejavu'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. ^ "Bobby Simha makes his web series debut with Vella Raja". The Indian Express. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Thiravam Review: Prasanna fuels this middling retelling of the Ramar Pillai story". Cinema Express. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

External links edit