Bharath (actor)

Bharath made his acting debut in the 2003 Tamil film Boys directed by S. Shankar, in which he played the guitarist of a boy band. He was selected for the role, after Shankar had seen him performing at a dance programme "Inspirations" at the Music Academy by Swingers.[11] In 2004, he first appeared in the Malayalam film, the Jayaraj-directed vigilante film 4 The People, portraying one of the four protagonists. Later that year, he played the antagonist role in the Tamil film Chellamae. His portrayal of Vishwa, a possessive teenager who kidnaps his childhood friend whom he is obsessed with and although she has married someone else, was acclaimed by critics.[12] He played his first starring role in Balaji Sakthivel's Tamil romantic-drama film Kaadhal that featured him as a poor mechanic who falls in love and elopes with a wealthy twelfth-standard student.[13][14] The film, produced by Shankar, received critical acclaim and commercial success.[15][13] Pattiyal, a gangster thriller, was his first release in 2006. The Vishnuvardhan-directorial opened to a positive response and went to become a box office hit,[16] with Bharath garnering accolades for his performance as a deaf and dumb hitman[17] Later that year, he starred in Azhagai Irukkirai Bayamai Irukkirathu, Em Magan, Chennai Kadhal and Veyil. While Chennai Kadhal, a romance film by Vikraman,[18] bombed at the box office, Thirumurugan's family drama film Em Magan was declared a hit film.[19] He has received great accolades for Veyil.[20]

Following Veyil, Bharath experienced a setback in his career as his subsequent releases—with the exception of Pazhani—proved to be commercially unsuccessful.[21][22] He was facing an "image crisis" as he signed up for action and masala films and went on play repetitive roles as a "larger than life angry young man", playing "small town rowdy" or "guy seeking revenge" roles.[21] Koodal Nagar, was released in 2007 in which he portrayed a dual role, which was a box office disaster. In 2008 he appeared in Perarasu's Pazhani alongside Kajal Aggarwal and Kushboo, following which Nepali, directed by V. Z. Durai was released.[23] That year he had two more releases, Muniyandi Vilangial Moonramandu, which saw him collaborating with the Em Magan team again, and Hari's Seval.[21][22] In 2009 he acted in Arumugam, directed by Suresh Krishna and Kanden Kadhalai, the Tamil remake of the 2007 Bollywood film Jab We Met. The latter featured him in a totally contrasting role as a rich businessman, and became his only commercial success in two years.[24][25]

In 2010, he had a single release with Badri's Thambikku Indha Ooru which became a critical and commercial failure. In 2011, he appeared in the multi-starrer Vaanam as Bharath Chakravarthy, a guitarist. Post-release, Bharath clashed with the producer and another actor in the film, Silambarasan, claiming he did not receive as much promotion and publicity as Silambarasan's character.[26] His next film, the romantic comedy Yuvan Yuvathi co-starring Rima Kallingal, was followed by Perarasu's action-masala film Thiruthani co-starring Sunaina.[27] He also made a guest appearance in Vasanthabalan's Aravaan. In 2013, his romantic thriller film Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu released in August. The film, which was directed by Sasi, opened to positive reviews with a critic noting he "has put a lot of effort and hardwork to the role" and "is one single reason to watch the film".[28] Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu is Bharath's only highest-grossing film in his career.

Bharath made his Bollywood debut with Jackpot.[29] The film was about four people who try to con one another for money and Bharath played one of them, a Goan named Anthony D’Souza from Puducherry.[30] He returned to Malayalam cinema in 2014 with Koothara. Thereafter, he plays his 25th movie in Aindhaam Thalaimurai Sidha Vaidhiya Sigamani (2014). The film hasn't been met with favourable reviews.[31] The next is action film Killadi (2015). The film is released to negative reviews.[32] Bharath subsequently appeared as autistic youngster in a Malayalam project titled 1000 – Oru Note Paranja Katha (2015), which garnered poor reviews on release, with a critic noting that "there are plenty of moments of real terrible acting around, and it's a pity to see an actor like Bharath strut around awkwardly, trying to pass off as a youngster with a disability, but with very little success".[33] Later in 2015 he appeared in another Malayalam movie Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi (2015), which was an experimental movie.

In 2017, he acted in Ennodu Vilayadu.[34] Kadugu directed by Vijay Milton was a solid comeback, but the film was an average hit.[35] At the end of the year, he appears in the movies as Spyder starring Mahesh Babu, a bilingual film directed by AR Murugadoss. Bharath play as negative role in cameo appearance after S. J. Surya as the main antagonist. The film was a moderate success.[36] Kadaisi Bench Karthi is released on 27 October and has received to negative reviews. It was a colossal flop.[37] In 2019, Simba and Pottu have commercially failed.[38][39] In Kaalidas, which is directed by Sri Senthil, released on 13 December 2019, featuring Bharath playing a cop for the first time in his career.[40]