Ashok Selvan

Ashok Selvan is an Indian actor who works primarily in Tamil cinema. Selvan moved to Chennai and attended Santhome Higher Secondary School.

After graduating from high school, Selvan got admission to Loyola College, Chennai, for a Visual Communication degree. During his time there, his short film, Green, was awarded Best Film at the 2012 International Tamil Thoth Conference in Singapore. While in his second year of college, he also debuted in a minor role in the Tamil film Billa 2 (2012), where he played a young Billa.

Before entering the Tamil film industry as an actor, Selvan worked as an assistant director with S.J. Suryah. He also starred in a few commercials where Nalan Kumarasamy scouted him for his black comedy movie, Soodhu Kavvum (2013). He played the role of Kesavan, an unemployed graduate, starring alongside Vijay Sethupathi and Sanchita Shetty. The film received rave reviews and was a commercial success with a box-office collection of approximately Rs. 35 crores.

In his early days, Selvan had auditioned for the psychological thriller Pizza (2012) but was rejected for the role. He later appeared in the sequel Pizza II: Villa (2013), made by Deepan Chakravarthy, where he played the role of a 30-year-old English novel writer.

Selvan also appeared in the murder mystery Thegidi (2014), directed by P. Ramesh. He was cast opposite Janani Iyer, and he played the role of a detective.

He later starred in the psychological drama film Sometimes (2016), also known as Sila Samayangalil (2016), directed by Priyadarshan, which was released on Netflix. The movie follows the story of eight people who appear for an AIDS test. It was the only Indian film to reach the final round at the 74th Golden Globe Awards. The film received two awards at the ninth annual Jaipur International Film Festival and won Best Film at the Chennai International Film Festival.

The next year, Selvan appeared in Kootathil Oruthan (2017), a romantic story revolving around an average student who falls in love with the class topper. In 2020, he starred in Oh My Kadavule (2020), produced by Happy High Pictures, Selvan's production company. The movie was a blockbuster hit, starring Ritika Singh and Vani Bhojan.

Selvan debuted in Telugu cinema with Ninnila Ninnila (2021), directed by Ani. I.V. Sasi, in 2021. The movie also featured Ritu Varma and Nithya Menen. Selvan also debuted in Malayalam cinema with Priyadarshan's Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (2021) in 2021, where he played the antagonist. The next year, he appeared in the lead role in the black comedy thriller Manmadha Leelai (2022).

Besides films, Selvan has acted in web series like Time Enna Boss (2020) on Amazon Prime and Edhiri: Karuna (2021) on Netflix. His TV performances include Neeya Naana (2006), the second season of Bigg Boss Tamil (2017), and Spot Light (2019). He also appeared in Pranav Giridharan's music video Maayam Seidhai Poove (2022).