Nivin Pauly
Nivin Pauly in 2020
Born	(1984-10-11)11 October 1984 (age 40) Aluva,Kochi, India
Alma mater	Federal Institute of Science and Technology
Occupations	Actor producer
Years active	2010–present
Organization	Pauly Jr. Pictures
Spouse	Rinna Joy ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	2

Nivin Pauly (born 11 October 1984) is an Indian actor and producer who works predominantly inMalayalam films. He is the recipient of twoKerala State Film Awards, threeFilmfare Awards South, twoKerala Film Critics Association Awards, and sixSIIMA Awards. He made his acting debut inVineeth Sreenivasan's directorial debut,Malarvaadi Arts Club in 2010. The 2012 filmThattathin Marayathu pushed him into stardom.^[1]

Nivin came to be known for playing theboy next door archetype, following roles in the bilingual black-comedy thrillerNeram (2013), the sports-drama1983 (2014), the romantic-comedyOhm Shanthi Oshaana (2014), the romantic-dramaBangalore Days (2014), the comedy road-thrillerOru Vadakkan Selfie (2015), and the coming-of-age romantic dramaPremam (2015). He then went on to star in the police dramaAction Hero Biju (2016), the family dramaJacobinte Swargarajyam (2016), the political satireSakhavu (2017), family comedyNjandukalude Nattil Oridavela (2017) and theepic filmKayamkulam Kochunni (2018) which emerged asone of the highest-grossing Malayalam films.^[2]

Nivin made his debut as a producer withAction Hero Biju under his production company Pauly Jr. Pictures and has produced the filmsNjandukalude Nattil Oridavela^[3] andKanakam Kaamini Kalaham (2021). The latter is the first Malayalam movie to premiere onDisney+ Hotstar.

He won theFilmfare Award for Best Male Debut forNeram (2013).^[4] In 2015, he won theKerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performances inBangalore Days and1983.^[5][6] He won theFilmfare Award for Best Actor – Malayalam forAction Hero Biju (2016).^[7] In 2020, he won theKerala State Film Award for Best Actor -Special Mention forMoothon.

Since 2022, he has starred in the filmsMahaveeryar,Padavettu,Saturday Night,Thuramukham andRamachandra Boss & Co.

Nivin Pauly was born on 11 October, 1984, into aSyro Malabar Catholic family inAluva,Kochi.^[8] Nivin's father, Pauly Bonaventure and mother, Thressiamma Pauly, worked inAarau, Switzerland. Nivin was brought up inKerala.^[9] He graduated with aBachelor of Technology degree inElectronics & Communication Engineering fromFederal Institute of Science and Technology (FISAT),Angamaly in 2006.^[10]

He was employed atInfosys inBangalore through campus placements and worked as a software engineer from 2006 to 2008.^[11] However, he resigned and returned home after his father's death.^[12][13]

Nivin currently lives with his family inKochi.^[14]

Nivin auditioned forMalarvaadi Arts Club and was cast byVineeth Sreenivasan in the role of Prakashan, which marked his debut.^[15][16] Following this, he acted in the filmsThe Metro^[17] andSevenes,^[18] and did cameos inTraffic andSpanish Masala. He appeared in the music videoNenjodu Cherthu from the albumYuvvh.^[16][19]

The 2012 filmThattathin Marayathu became one of the biggest hits of the year.^[20][21] He played the role of Vinod, a Hindu boy madly in love with Ayesha, a Muslim girl.^[22] This wasVineeth Sreenivasan's second film as director. This also secured his position as one of the finest actors in theMalayalam film industry.^[23] He received offers from directors includingSathyan Anthikad,Rajesh Pillai,Aashiq Abu andShyamaprasad.^[24]

Nivin made his debut inTamil with the bilingual filmNeram.^[20] His otherMalayalam films in 2013 include5 Sundarikal andSunil Ibrahim'sArikil Oraal. The film was directorAlphonse Puthren's directorial debut and was noted for its non-linear screenplay. He also acted inShyamaprasad'sEnglish: An Autumn in London where he portrayed the character of a London-born dapper playboy.^[25] The latter was a psychological thriller in which he played the role of Ichcha, a waiter at a café. In5 Sundarikal, he acted in the segment "Isha" directed bySameer Thahir.

In 2014, he played the role of Rameshan inAbrid Shine's directorial debut1983, acoming-of-agesports film.^[26] His portrayal of Rameshan from his school life, well into adulthood earned him the Best Actor Award at the 2014Kerala State Film Awards.^[27] This film also fetched him multiple other awards including the Best Actor (Malayalam) at theFilmfare Awards South^[28] andSouth Indian International Movie Awards,^[29] and Most Popular Actor at theVanitha Film Awards.^{[citation needed]} This was followed by debutantJude Anthany Joseph's romantic comedyOhm Shanthi Oshaana, in which he portrayed the role of Giri and was released a week after1983. "Sify" stated that the director Jude Anthany Joseph "creates an engaging enough drama inOhm Shanthi Oshaana, that you're happy to emotionally invest in [it]."^[30] His next releaseBangalore Days was the coming-of-age romanticcomedy drama directed byAnjali Menon. Nivin essayed the role of Krishnan "Kuttan" P P, a software engineer who is judgemental about modern life without really thinking about his own hypocrisies.^[31] This role was also taken into account by the jury for the Best Actor award at the 2014 Kerala State Film Awards. The film was released in 205 theaters across India, making it one of the biggest releases for a Malayalam film at the time.^{[citation needed]} In the same year, he played an extended cameo in theLal Jose filmVikramadithyan, as anassistant district magistrate.

In 2015, Nivin appeared inMili,Oru Vadakkan Selfie andIvide. He plays the role of a soft-skills trainer, Naveen in Mili,^[32] directed byRajesh Pillai. He followed this up with the "road-comedy film"Oru Vadakkan Selfie, directed byG. Prajith and scripted byVineeth Sreenivasan.

He then acted inPremam, where he played the role of George David. It grossed over 600 million, and became one of the highest grossing Malayalam movies, catapulting him into the '50-crore club'.^[33][34][35] The film collected ₹2 crore from Tamil Nadu box office in its 300 days theatrical run making it the highest grossing Malayalam film in Tamil Nadu at the time.^{[citation needed]} Nivin's portrayal of George was featured in the Film Companion's 100 Greatest Performances of the Decade.^[36] Praising his performance, the Film Companion wrote: "His performance had charm, mischief, and most impressively, vulnerability."

Nivin producedAction Hero Biju in 2016 under his banner Pauly Jr. Pictures.^[37] The film, apolice procedural drama, was directed byAbrid Shine. As sub-inspector Biju Poulose, the film and the role portrays an honest look at the life of a police official. The film also has the highest opening gross for a Malayalam film in Tamil Nadu.^{[citation needed]} The movie was well received by the police fraternity in Kerala.^[38][39] He also starred in thefamily-dramaJacobinte Swargarajyam directed byVineeth Srinivasan. Based on a true story, he played the role of Jerry, the son of Jacob Zacharia who struggles to clear his father's debts.

His next film was a political dramaSakhavu in which he playeddual roles.^[40] Directed bySidhartha Siva, this was the first dual role in his career, where he portrayed a student political leader and a senior social activist and comrade who fights for his left-wing ideals.

Nivin appeared in his first straight Tamil feature film through Gautham Ramachandran's crime dramaRichie (2017), where he portrayed a small town thug.^[41] He also starred in thedramedyNjandukalude Nattil Oridavela. This film was his second outing as a producer.^[42] The film which was received well at the box office^[43] was a heart-warming story which portrayed that cancer is never the end of the road for everyone involved.^[44]

In 2018, the big-budget movieKayamkulam Kochunni, directed byRosshan Andrrews made a significant impact at the Kerala box office, and across all territories that it was released as well. This film put Nivin in the 100 crore club.^[45] He came together with Shyamaprased for a third time for theromantic-comedyHey Jude (film). Nivin plays the role of a mathematical genius, yet socially awkward Jude who like his namesakeBeatles song finds himself in spite of his perceived shortcomings.^[46]

In 2019, Nivin played the role of Dr Mikhael John inHaneef Adeni'saction-thrillerMikhael. This was followed byLove Action Drama, a romantic comedy which also saw commercial success at the box office.^[47] Nivin next appeared inGeetu Mohandas' filmMoothon which was screened at several international film festivals worldwide includingToronto International Film Festival,^[48]New York Indian Film Festival,^[49]FFAST (Paris),^[50]Indian Film Festival of Melbourne^[51] andMumbai Film Festival.^[52] He won the award for the best actor at the New York Indian Film Festival for his role inMoothon.^[53] Nivin portrayed the dark and demoralising world of Moothon as Akbar^[54] which fetched him theKerala State Film Awards – Special Mention in 2019.^[55] The film was the screened as the opening film at the Mumbai Film FestivalMumbai Academy of the Moving Image and as the grand finale at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.^[56] Nivin's role as Akbar in this film was also featured in Film Companion's 100 Greatest Performances of the Decade.^[36]

In 2021, he starred in Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval'sKanakam Kaamini Kalaham, a family drama with satire andabsurd-comedies^[57] elements.

The fantasy filmMahaveeryar was Nivin's first release of the year directed byAbrid Shine and was released on 21 July 2022, to critical acclaim. However, the film failed at the box office.^[58] The climax of the film was later changed, which was better received by the audience. The teaser ofMahaveeryar garnered 6 million views within 24 hours of its launch making it the then most viewed teaser inMalayalam cinema.^[59] His next film, action thrillerPadavettu, an action thriller directed by debutant Liju Krishna had its theatrical release on 21 October 2022, to critical acclaim from the critics but failed at the box office.^[60][61] The trailer ofPadavettu was launched to a full house at the inaugural match of theIndian Super League 2022 at theJawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi; making it the first film to have the trailer launch at the ISL.^[62] This was followed by the comedy dramaSaturday Night, directed byRosshan Andrrews which explores the relationship between four friends was released on 4 November 2022.It received largely negative reviews from critics and audiences and failed at the box office.^[63][64] In 2023, Nivin appeared on screen as Mattanchery Moidu inRajeev Ravi's filmThuramukham. The movie was critically acclaimed and Nivin was praised for his sublime performance but overall the film received mixed reviews and failed at the box office.^{[citation needed]} He then starred in the heist action comedyRamachandra Boss & Co, directed byHaneef Adeni. The film received mixed reviews from the critics and failed to recoup even half of its budget and hasn't been released on Ott platforms at present likely due to its failure.

In 2024, he starred in the filmVarshangalkku Shesham directed byVineeth Sreenivasan In which he had a cameo appearance as Nithin Molly which received widespread praise from the audience for his performance and was a hit at the box office and his next filmMalayalee from India, directed byDijo Jose Antony was released to mixed reviews from critics and audiences but failed at the box office.^[65][66]

His next release is a Tamil film,Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai, directed byRam.^[67] His upcoming projects areAction Hero Biju 2,Gangster of Mundanmala andShekara Varma Rajavu.^[68][69] He has also announced a new project titledDear Students, which will be produced under his home banner.^[70]

Following his appearance inPremam, Nivin was chosen as the Most Desirable Man of 2015 byKochi Times.^[71]

In early 2017, Nivin appeared as himself in the short film "No Go Tell" directed byJude Anthany Joseph. This viral film was vetted by the Kerala State Commission for Protection of Child Rights and focuses on creating awareness among children about sexual abuse and child body safety.^[72][73][74]

Nivin was also part of the Kerala Strikers team in theCelebrity Cricket League.^[75][76] In addition, he was named the youth ambassador of theKerala Blasters for the third edition of theIndian Super League.^[77]

Nivin was noted for his contributions during the unprecedentedfloods of 2018 in Kerala. He visited relief camps in his hometown ofAluva and arranged basic necessities for the flood-affected people.^[78] He also met Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan to hand over his donation towards the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF).^[79][80]

He was also in the news for the "On-Call" campaign, where he called and spoke to patients and healthcare workers during the lockdown, encouraging and thanking the latter for their selfless service.^[81]

Nivin was also a part of the launch of the "Drug-Free Kerala" campaign of theVigilance and Anti Corruption Bureau (VACB) against corruption and narcotic substances^[82]

He married his college sweetheart Rinna Joy on 28 August 2010, at St. Dominic's Church inAluva. They were classmates atFederal Institute of Science and Technology.^{[83][84][8][85]} They have a son and a daughter.^[86]

• All films are inMalayalam, unless otherwise noted.

• All films are inMalayalam, produced under Nivin Pauly's home banner Pauly Jr. Pictures unless otherwise noted.

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