Ashok Kumar | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Ashok Kumar Balakrishnan 12 December 1981 (age 42) |
| Alma mater | Psychology from St. Xavier's College |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1994 – present |
| Awards | PIFFA - Best promising actor award in a PRIYAMUDAN PRIYA Movie |
Ashok Kumar Balakrishnan (born December 12, 1981) is an Indian actor and Founder of the wellness center Freak-a-thon. His notable roles are that of Little Krishna on Sri Krishna from 1994 to 1995, Ashok is established as the Main Lead (Protagonist - Hero) in feature films in South India,[1] primarily in Tamil. His first step into the Tamil Film Industry was with Muruga, directed by R. T. Neason, which released in 2007, followed by Pidichirukku, directed by Kanagu, was released for Pongal 2008. He also did a cameo for a song in a Malayalam film titled Mulla, directed by Lal Jose and the journey continues...
Early life
editAshok was born in Thiruvaiyaru, Tamil Nadu, India the son of R. Balakrishnan, and Rohini Balakrishnan.[1] Ashok began learning Bharatnatyam at the age of four. He is the youngest disciple of T. S. Kadhirvelu Pillai. He is also trained in Western Contemporary Jazz Ballet and has worked with ace choreographers Terence Lewis, Remo D'souza and also got trained under the able guidance of dancers/choreographers from the Cunningham School (USA). As a teenager, he played the role of Little Krishna in Ramanand Sagar's teleserial Sri Krishna for which he won the "Best Child Actor Award" from Uptron. It was telecast in Doordarshan in 1994-95. He also was awarded the coveted Nritya Mayur for excellence in dance from the State Government of Maharashtra. He was actively involved in a lot of plays/stage and dance/theatre projects. He was involved in stage productions like the musical "Evita" directed by Alyque Padamsee, "Love is the Best Remedy" by Jean Jacques Bellot, "Katha" in Hindi directed by Ravi Mishra of Ekjute Productions for which Ashok won the Best Actor Award during the IPTA, Manch and Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's/Bhavan's Kala Kendra Theatre Festivals. He also directed the play "Cryptic Death" for the Thespo Theatre Festival. He had choreographed for several stage shows with Bollywood Celebrities like Asha Bhonsle, Sonu Nigam and Aamir Khan (for the Brittania Lagaan Match Event), before becoming an actor. He also worked as an assistant dance choreographer with Raju Khan for several Bollywood films. Ashok worked as a choreographer for an album as a tribute to M. S. Subbalakshmi. He performed at a Peace Concert post WTC Attacks 9/11. He has performed on various stages across India and toured the U.S. and Europe with dance and theatre projects. He has acted in and choreographed several Indo-German and Indo-French dance and theatre projects. He has won several awards and honours. Ashok took formal training at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Institute in Mumbai. He also trained for film stunts, fights and gymnastics.
Career
editAshok is established as the Main Lead (Protagonist - Hero) in feature films in South India,[1] primarily in Tamil. His first step into the Tamil Film Industry was with Muruga, directed by R. T. Neason, which released in 2007, followed by Pidichirukku, directed by Kanagu, was released for Pongal 2008. He also did a cameo for a song in a Malayalam film titled Mulla, directed by Lal Jose and the journey continues...
His latest project titled 'Ka..Ka..Ka..Aabathin Arikuri' is directed by Mr.Manon M where Ashok plays Karthik in the horror thriller. Other upcoming releases in 2018 would be the Thriller - Priyamudan Priya (bilingual-Tamil/Telugu), the lighter vein Romantic Comedy - Kannighapuram Sandhippil and the hard core rugged rustic villager "Karuppan" in the project tentatively titled Vaanam Partha Seemayilae and the Ula' is directed by Mr.Rajan Madhav (Muran fame) where Ashok plays 'Saleem - the Baddie/Villain' for the first time.
Filmography
edit| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Muruga[2] | Murugan | Tamil | |
| 2008 | Pidichirukku[3] | Velu | Tamil | |
| Mulla[4] | Malayalam | Cameo appearance | ||
| 2010 | Premistava | Telugu | ||
| 2012 | Kozhi Koovuthu[5] | Kumaresan | Tamil | |
| 2013 | Vetkathai Kettal Enna Tharuvaai | Shiva | Tamil | |
| Ela Cheppanu | Telugu | |||
| 2014 | Kadhal Solla Aasai[6] | Mahesh | Tamil | |
| 2015 | Kaki | Karthik | Tamil | |
| 2017 | Ka Ka Ka | Karthik | Tamil | |
| TBA | Ula | Saleem | Tamil | Slated for release |
| Dhigil[7] | Tamil | |||
| Home Stay[8] | Kannada Hindi |
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| Kannighapuram Sandhippil | Ashok | Tamil | Filming | |
| Vaanam Partha Seemayilae | Karuppan | Tamil | ||
| Priyamudan Priya[9] | Tamil | Filming | ||
| Konjam Koffee Konjam Kaadhal | Tamil | Cameo appearance |