Kalidas Jayaram

Kalidas Jayaram

Kalidas Jayaram (born 16 December 1993) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Tamil and Malayalam films. The son of film actors Jayaram and Parvathy, Kalidas made his debut in the Malayalam film Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal (2000) at the age of six. Later, he starred in Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum (2003), which won him the National Film Award for Best Child Artist.

Early and personal life

Kalidas Jayaram

Kalidas was born the elder of two children, to actors Jayaram and Parvathy in Perumbavoor, Kerala, India. He has a younger sister Malavika Jayaram. He did his schooling from Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Chennai and his plus-two from Choice School, Cochin, Kerala. He received his bachelor's degree in visual communication from Loyola College, Chennai.

Like his father, he is skilled at imitating actors, and the mimicry performed during a Vijay TV award show and an advertisement for a chocolate brand made him familiar to people.

He married Tarini Kalingarayar, who was third runner up of Miss Diva 2021, on 8 December 2024.

Career

Kalidas Jayaram

A young Kalidas receiving the Best Child Artist award from Indian president A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

At the age of 7, he made his debut in Sathyan Anthikad's Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal (2000). He received the National Award for Best Child Artist for his second film Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum (2003).

In 2016, he made his debut in Tamil cinema with Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum (2016).

He made his debut as a lead actor in Malayalam cinema in Poomaram (2018). Next, Kalidas had 3 releases: Mr. & Ms. Rowdy (2019), Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu (2019) and Happy Sardar (2019).

His work on OTT, especially in Paava Kadhaigal (2020) have brought him critical acclaim. His role as Sathar in Sudha Kongara's short, Thangam, saw him portray the role of a trans woman. Kalidas played the lead in Balaji Tharaneetharan's second directorial venture Oru Pakka Kathai (2020).

He has since played supporting roles in the action films Vikram (2022) and Raayan (2024).

Filmography

Films

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Title</th><th>Role</th><th>Language</th><th>Notes</th><th>Ref.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2000</td><td>Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal</td><td>Ashok</td><td>Malayalam</td><td>Child artist</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2003</td><td>Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum</td><td>Vasudev</td><td>Malayalam</td><td>Child artist</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2016</td><td>Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum</td><td>Karthik</td><td>Tamil</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>Poomaram</td><td>Gauthaman</td><td>Malayalam</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>Mr. & Ms. Rowdy</td><td>Appu</td><td>Malayalam</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Argentina Fans Kaattoorkadavu</td><td>Vipinan</td><td>Malayalam</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Happy Sardar</td><td>Happy Singh</td><td>Malayalam</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>Putham Pudhu Kaalai</td><td>Younger Rajiv Padmanabhan</td><td>Tamil</td><td>Anthology film; segment Ilamai Idho Idho</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Paava Kadhaigal</td><td>Sathaar</td><td>Tamil</td><td>Anthology film; segment Thangam</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Oru Pakka Kathai</td><td>Saravanan</td><td>Tamil</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>Backpackers</td><td>Khalil</td><td>Malayalam</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>Jack N' Jill</td><td>Kesh</td><td>Malayalam</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Vikram</td><td>Prabhanjan</td><td>Tamil</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Natchathiram Nagargiradhu</td><td>Iniyan</td><td>Tamil</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2023</td><td>Rajni</td><td>Naveen</td><td>Malayalam</td><td>Bilingual film</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Aval Peyar Rajni</td><td>Tamil</td></tr><tr><td>2024</td><td>Por</td><td>Yuvaraj</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Indian 2</td><td>Nilesh Krishnaa</td><td>Cameo appearance</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Raayan</td><td>Manickavelraayan</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2026</td><td>Ashakal Aayiram</td><td>Ajeesh Hariharan</td><td>Malayalam</td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Year	Title	Role	Language	Notes	Ref.
2022	Paper Rocket	Jeeva	Tamil	Released on ZEE5

<table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th>Song</th><th>Film</th><th>Co-singer</th><th>Language</th><th>Music director</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2003</td><td>"Thappo Thappo"</td><td>Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum</td><td>Jayaram</td><td>Malayalam</td><td>Ouseppachan</td></tr><tr><td>2005</td><td>"Angethala"</td><td>Udayon</td><td>Shankar Mahadevan and Mohanlal</td><td>Malayalam</td><td>Ouseppachan</td></tr></tbody></table>

Year	Title	Language	Character	Director
2005	Udayon	Malayalam	Ponnan	Bhadran

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2020	Did You Sleep With Her	Akku	Malayalam	Short film
2021	Thappu Panniten	Male lead	Tamil	Music album

Awards

Kalidas Jayaram

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result	Ref.
2001	Asianet Film Awards	Best Child Artist (Male)	Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal	Won
2003	National Film Awards	Best Child Artist	Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum
Kerala State Film Awards	Best Child Artist
Asianet Film Awards	Best Child Artist
2017	6th South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Debut Actor (Tamil)	Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum
2019	21st Asianet Film Awards	Best New Face Actor	Poomaram
Vanitha Film Awards	Best New Face Actor
2021	Blacksheep Digital Awards	Best Actor OTT	Paava Kadhaigal
Behindwoods Gold Icon	Best Actor (Critics)
JFW Movie Awards	Special Recognition OTT
10th South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Supporting Actor (Male) - Tamil