Bobby Simha

Jayasimha (born 6 November 1983), better known as Bobby Simha, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Tamil and Telugu films. After making brief appearances in the films Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi and Pizza (2012), he portrayed a kidnapper in Nalan Kumarasamy's Soodhu Kavvum and a comic villain in Alphonse Putharen's Neram. Simha's subsequent performance as the Madurai gangster Sethu in Karthik Subbaraj's Jigarthanda (2014) won him critical acclaim and the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[3]

Bobby Simha
Bobby Simha at the audio launch of Urumeen (2015)
Born	Jayasimha (1983-11-06) 6 November 1983 (age 41)[1] Secundrabad, Andhra Pradesh, India[1] (now in Telangana, India)
Other names	Simha[2]
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Reshmi Menon ​ (m. 2016)​
Children	2
Relatives	Reshma Pasupuleti (Cousin)

Early life

Bobby Simha was born in a Telugu family on 6 November 1983 in Secundrabad, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana).^[1] Simha's family is from Mopidevi, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh but they moved to Kodaikanal in 1995.^[4] He subsequently completed his schooling at Priyadarshini Vidyalayam, a Telugu Medium School, in Mopidevi, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh and then attended college at Pioneer College of Arts and Science in Coimbatore.^[4]

In 2005, he participated in a Coimbatore-based event called Naalaya Natchathiram, where chief guests Sundar C and E. Ramdoss suggested that he should attempt to become an actor in Tamil films.^[4] Simha stated that he received an offer to feature in a TV serial in Chennai and only after making the journey from Coimbatore, did he realise he had been conned.^[4] Simha subsequently finished his degree and came back to Chennai to pursue a career in acting but ended up working in marketing, insurance and business process outsourcing to fulfill his financial needs.

Career

2007–2012: Early work

Bobby Simha appeared in an uncredited role in Maya Kannadi (2007). Balaji Mohan, who was a short-film maker, gave him a small role in his first feature film, Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi. Both ventures became critically acclaimed and amongst the most profitable of 2012.^[5][6][7] He subsequently became acquainted with short-film maker Manikandan, who introduced him to his friend, another short-film maker Karthik Subbaraj.^[8] The pair subsequently made a series of short films together, with Subbaraj giving Simha a role in his directorial debut Pizza, too.^[9]

2013–2017: Critical acclaim

Simha then appeared in Soodhu Kavvum (2013) portraying the role of Pagalavan, and played the antagonist in the bilingual Neram,^[10] his performances in both films were received well.^[11] In 2014, he was seen in the role of an ageing Madurai gangster in Jigarthanda^[5] with his portrayal winning him critical praise.^[12][13] In an interview he said that in order to get into the character, he had interacted with real gangsters to learn their behaviour and nuances. To tan his skin, he stood in the sun at noon wearing only his shorts.^[14] The film opened to positive reviews in August 2014,^[15] with The Hindu writing that it had achieved "cult status" within a week of its release.^[16] Simha won positive reviews for his depiction of Sethu, with Rediff.com noting that Simha "steals the show. He is chillingly menacing at times, while completely hilarious in others, but equally convincing in both", stating it is "a truly remarkable performance".^[17] A critic from Sify.com delivered a similar verdict, writing "truly the film belongs to Simhaa. He is electrifying especially in the first half, where he brings out the viciousness and violent streak of the character along with that eerie laughter."^[18] His performance in the film earned him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[19] After Jigarthanda he played a lead role in the Malayalam film Beware of Dogs,^[20] while in Aadama Jaichomada he played Bhoominathan, a "serious, intelligent cop but with a comic touch".^[21] The success of Jigarthanda had created opportunities for Bobby Simha to become a lead actor, though several of his subsequent films did not perform well commercially.^[22] In December 2015, he appeared in Urumeen, his first film as a solo action hero.

In 2016, he appeared in the coming-of-age drama, Bangalore Naatkal, where he portrayed a softer role in comparison to his earlier action films. Simha had offered his own dates to the producers to portray a character in the film, with his performance receiving mixed reviews.^[23] He play the role of a young and enthusiastic reporter in political thriller Ko 2.^[24] Director Karthik Subbaraj scripts a story of male arrogance in the multi-starrer Iraivi.^[25] In 2017, Susi Ganesan's Thiruttu Payale 2 is the sequel to the 2006 thriller film which went on to become a hit at the box-office.^[26]

2018–present

He has signed to play as antagonist for Saamy Square (2018), which is the sequel of Saamy, directed by Hari.^[27]

Bobby Simah's first release of the year 2019 was Petta, in which he shared screen space with Rajinikanth. He later went on to do Agni Devi and Edaina Jaragocchu.^[28] In November 2019, Film Companion ranked Simha's performance in Jigarthanda among the 100 Greatest Performances of the decade.^[29]

In 2020, he played the antagonist with Ravi Teja's in Telugu movie Disco Raja.^[30] He was seen in Amazon Prime Video's Anthology Putham Pudhu Kaalai, where he played the lead role in Karthik Subbaraj's segment titled, Miracle. In 2022, Bobby Simha play in pivotal role with Vikram in Mahaan directed by Karthik Subbaraj exclusively on Prime Video.^[31] Later, Bobby Simha play a cameo for his debut in the Kannada film industry with Rakshit Shetty's 777 Charlie.^[32] In Telugu, he did Ammu (2022) for Amazon Prime and worked with Chiranjeevi in Waltair Veerayya (2023) where he plays the villain.^[33] He is also playing pivotal roles in Vallavanukkum Vallavan (2023) and the S. Shankar's, Indian 2 (2024) and Indian 3 (2025) as a cop with Kamal Haasan.

Personal life

Bobby Simha got engaged to Urumeen co-star Reshmi Menon in November 2015, and they married on 22 April 2016. The couple has two children– a daughter (born 2017),^[34][35] and a son (born 2019).^[36][37]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes	Ref.
2007	Maya Kannadi	Barber customer	Tamil	Uncredited role
2012	Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Yeppadi	Jayasimha		Credited as Jayasimha
	Pizza	Bobby		Credited as Simha
2013	Naan Rajavaga Pogiren	Shankar Subramaniam
	Soodhu Kavvum	Pagalavan
	Neram	Vatti Raja	Malayalam	Bilingual film
			Tamil
2014	Beware of Dogs	Amir	Malayalam
	Jigarthanda	'Assault' Sethu	Tamil
	Aadama Jaichomada	Inspector Bhoominathan
	Aaaah	Prosper
2015	Oru Vadakkan Selfie	John Mathew Bhaskar	Malayalam	Cameo appearance
	Chennai Ungalai Anbudan Varaverkirathu	Chellapandi	Tamil
	Masala Padam	Amudhan
	Inji Iduppazhagi	Himself	Tamil	Cameo appearance
	Size Zero		Telugu
	Urumeen	Selvaa	Tamil
2016	Bangalore Naatkal	Kannan (Kutty)		Also narrator
	Aviyal	The Gangster		Segment: Eli
	Run	Vatti Raja	Telugu
	Ko 2	Kumaran	Tamil
	Meera Jaakirathai	Sivanesan
	Iraivi	Jagan
	Metro	Guna
	Kavalai Vendam	Arjun
2017	Mupparimanam	Himself		Cameo appearance
	Paambhu Sattai	Dakshna
	Karuppan	Kathir
	Thiruttu Payale 2	Inspector Selvam
2018	Rosapoo	Actor	Malayalam	Cameo appearance
	Kammara Sambhavam	Pulikeshi
	Saamy Square	Raavana Pichai	Tamil
	Ladoo	Joseph Dayanidhi	Malayalam	Cameo appearance
2019	Petta	Michael	Tamil
	Agni Devi	Agni Dev IPS
	Edaina Jaragocchu	Kali	Telugu
2020	Disco Raja	Burma Sethu
	Putham Pudhu Kaalai	Devan	Tamil	Segment: Miracle
2021	Gully Rowdy	Ravi Nayak IPS	Telugu	[38]
2022	Mahaan	Sathyavan Soosaiyappan	Tamil		[39]
	777 Charlie	Vamsinadhan	Kannada	Cameo appearance	[40]
	Ammu	Prabhu	Telugu		[41]
2023	Waltair Veerayya	Solomon Caesar			[42][43]
	Vallavanukkum Vallavan	Alexander	Tamil	also producer	[44]
	Vasantha Mullai	Rudhran			[45]
	Thugs	Durai
	Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire	Bhaarava	Telugu
2024	Razakar	Rajireddy			[46]
	Indian 2	Pramod Krishnaswamy	Tamil		[47]
2025	Indian 3			Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Network	Notes	Ref
2018	Vella Raja	Deva	Amazon Prime Video		[48]
2021	Navarasa	Nilavan	Netflix	Segment: Peace	[49]
2022	Kaiyum Kalavum	Anna/Partner (Narrator)	Sony Liv	Voice only. Along with Chinmayi	[50]

Awards and nominations

Vijay Awards

• 2014 – Vijay Award for Best Villain – Jigarthanda^[51]

Filmfare Awards South

• 2014 – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil – Jigarthanda

National Film Awards

• 2014 – National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor – Jigarthanda^[52]

Tamil Nadu State Film Award Special Prize

• Best Actor – Jigarthanda^[53]

3rd South Indian International Movie Awards^[54]

• Nominated - Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Soodhu Kavvum
• Nominated - Best Actor in a Negative Role (Tamil) - Neram
• Nominated - Best Actor in a Negative Role (Malayalam) - Neram

4th South Indian International Movie Awards

• Nominated - Best Actor in a Negative Role (Tamil) - Jigarthanda

Edison Awards

• 2014 - Edison Award for Best Villain - Jigarthanda

References

1. Actor Bobby Simha (Disco Raja ) Exclusive Interview. iDream Telugu Movies. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2022 – via YouTube.
2. @actorsimha (10 February 2023). "Photo" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
3. "Bobby Simha on Cloud Nine after 'Jigarthanda'". Sify. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
4. "Stood in the sun in my underwear: Simhaa". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
5. Naig, Udhav (8 March 2014). "Gangs of Madurai". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 29 June 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
6. "Critics' Choice of 10 best Tamil films of 2012". Sify. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
7. "2012- Top grossers at the Box-Office". Sify. Archived from the original on 27 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
8. "SimHA - Actor". CDTV.in - Short Films Insight. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
9. New baddie on the block Archived 31 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine. The Hindu (2013-05-25). Retrieved on 2014-03-26.
10. Srinivasan, Sudhir (9 August 2014). "Baddie like Bobby". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2 December 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
11. Naig, Udhav (25 May 2013). "New baddie on the block". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 31 July 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
12. "Movie Review 'Jigarthanda': A film not to be missed". Deccan Chronicle. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
13. "Jigarthanda". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
14. "Simhaa interacted with real rowdies for 'Jigarthanda'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 March 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
15. Kamath, Sudhish (6 September 2014). "Calling Karthik". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
16. SUBHA J RAO (7 August 2014). "The Jigarthanda juggernaut". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 30 November 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
17. "Review: Jigarthanda is a fun ride". Rediff. 1 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
18. "Movie Review : Jigarthanda". Sify. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
19. IANS (24 March 2015). "National Award incentive to do good work: Bobby Simha". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2019 – via Business Standard.
20. "I was also inspired by Christian Bale, says Simhaa". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
21. "Bobby Simha: I'll never play another Assault Sethu!". 16 September 2014. Archived from the original on 17 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
22. "After Jigarthanda, it's Iraivi for Karthik Subbaraj". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
23. Rao, Subha J. (6 February 2016). "A new face". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 February 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2019 – via www.thehindu.com.
24. Kollywood, Only (11 May 2016). "Bobby Simha opens up about Ko 2". Only Kollywood.
25. "Iraivi review: A dark tale of male arrogance". Hindustan Times. 3 June 2016.
26. "'Thiruttu Payale 2' Review: Engaging thriller which improves on the first film". The News Minute. 1 December 2017.
27. "Bobby Simha to lock horns with Chiyaan Vikram". Top 10 Cinema. 13 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 13 June 2017.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
28. "Bobby Simha's next on the floors, to be helmed by debutant director". The News Minute. 30 November 2019.
29. "100 Greatest Performances of the Decade". 100 Greatest Performances of the Decade. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
30. Chowdhary, Y. Sunita (21 January 2020). "Bobby Simha on playing the antagonist in Ravi Teja's 'Disco Raja' and not being a regular 'villain'". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
31. "Bobby Simha's upcoming Action- Thriller 'Mahaan'; first look poster out". www.adgully.com. 27 January 2022.
32. "Bobby Simha to play a cameo in Rakshit Shetty's Kannada film 777 Charlie". India Today. 6 November 2020.
33. Chowdhary, Y. Sunita (7 January 2023). "Interview: My mirror is my teacher, says Bobby Simha".
34. "Bobby Simha-Reshmi Menon's engagement held on Sunday". International Business Times. 8 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
35. "Bobby Simha and Reshmi Menon have chosen this name for their daughter". 2 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
36. "Bobby Simhaa and Reshmi Menon welcome their second child together, a baby boy". 13 November 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
37. "Bobby Simha & Reshmi Menon blessed with a boy baby". 13 November 2019. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
38. "Sundeep Kishan's Rowdy Baby titled changed to Gully Rowdy". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
39. "Bobby Simha joins the cast of Vikram-starrer 'Chiyaan 60'". 12 March 2021.
40. "Shooting for Rakshit Shetty's '777 Charlie' nears completion". 12 December 2020.
41. PTI (6 October 2022). "Aishwarya Lekshmi's Telugu movie 'Ammu' to premiere on Prime Video on October 19". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
42. "Acharya actor Chiranjeevi accidentally reveals the title of his next film with director Bobby". India Today. 29 April 2022.
43. "EXCLUSIVE: Ravi Teja hasn't opted out of Chiranjeevi's Chiru 154, confirms Producer; To start filming in June". Pinkvilla. 9 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
44. "Vallavanukkum Vallavan Movie Review : Bobby Simha saves this averagely-written con drama". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
45. India Today (10 February 2023). "Vasantha Mullai Movie Review: Bobby Simha and Arya's thriller is a wasted opportunity". Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
46. Hungama, Bollywood (22 March 2024). "Razakar Cast List | Razakar Movie Star Cast | Release Date | Movie Trailer | Review- Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
47. "Bobby Simha celebrates birthday on the sets of 'Indian 2'". The Times of India. 7 November 2019. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
48. "Bobby Simha makes his web series debut with Vella Raja". Indian Express. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
49. "Navarasa | 'Peace' review: Karthik Subbaraj's war movie raises uneasy questions". OnManorama. Archived from the original on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
50. "newsKaiyum Kalavum to premiere on SonyLIV". Cinema Express. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
51. "Vijay Awards 2015 - Complete list of winners". Sify. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
52. "62nd National Film Awards: Tamil movies bag eight honours". Times of India. 24 March 2015. Archived from the original on 1 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
53. "TN Govt. announces Tamil Film Awards for six years". The Hindu. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
54. "SIIMA 2014 Tamil Nominations: Suriya, Dhanush, Kamal Haasan Feature in Best Actor Category [List]". International Business Times. 20 July 2014. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2014.

External links

• Bobby Simha at IMDb