VTV Ganesh

{{Short description|Tamil actor, comedian, film producer (born 1961)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = VTV Ganesh

| image = VTV Ganesh.jpg

| caption = VTV Ganesh in 2017

| birth_name = Ganesh Janardhanan

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1961|06|21}}

| birth_place = Nagercoil, Madras State (now Tamil Nadu), India

| death_date =

| death_place =

| yearsactive = 2002{{ndash}}present

| spouse = Rajeswari

| children = 1

| occupation = {{Hlist | Actor | comedian | film producer}}

}}

Ganesh Janardhanan, also known by his stage name VTV Ganesh, is an Indian actor and producer who works in Tamil and Telugu films. He is best known for his raspy voice,{{Cite news |last=Srinivasan |first=Sudhir |date=2014-11-01 |title=Happy to make people happy |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/interview-with-vtv-ganesh-happy-to-make-people-happy/article6555464.ece |access-date=2025-03-24 |work=The Hindu |language=en}} and appearances in films featuring Silambarasan. He made his debut in the Tamil movie Red (2002) directed by Singampuli. He is well-known for his movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (2011) directed by Gautham Menon, which is the reason that he got 'VTV' (short form of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa) prior to his name.

Career

Prior to VTV, he played small roles in films like Red (2002), Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu (2006), Pachaikili Muthucharam (2007) and Vaaranam Aayiram (2008).

Ganesh made his breakthrough with a role in his home production Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (2010) directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon starring Silambarasan and Trisha Krishnan. His portrayal of Ganesh, the fictional cinematographer of Vinaithaandi Varuvaiya (2010) won plaudits from critics and eventually led to him changing his name by adding a prefix with the initials of the film (VTV). He went on to play a comic role in the anthology film, Vaanam (2011) which he also produced, portraying the character of "Bajanai" Ganesh who assists Cable Raja played Silambarasan.{{cite web |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/news-interviews/Ganesh-is-back/articleshow/6196629.cms |title=Ganesh is back! |newspaper=The Times of India |date=2010-07-22 |access-date=2011-09-25 |archive-date=5 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905124001/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-07-22/news-interviews/28307849_1_vaanam-vtv-prakash-raj |url-status=live }}{{cite web|url=http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/jun-11-03/vaanam-silambarasan-17-06-11.html|title=Vaanam crosses 50 day mark |access-date=30 June 2011 |date=17 June 2011|website=Behindwoods.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619214910/http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/jun-11-03/vaanam-silambarasan-17-06-11.html |archive-date=19 June 2011 }} Ganesh also acted in Osthe (2011) featuring Silambarasan in a role as the heroine's father. In 2012, Ganesh played the role of Silambaran’s uncle in Vignesh Shivan’s romantic musical film, Podaa Podi. He was one of the lead characters in Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham (2013).{{cite web |url=http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/jun-11-05/str-dharani-30-06-11.html |title=Silambarasan's Buddy In Osthi – Str – Dharani – Vtv Ganesh |website=Behindwoods.com |date=2011-06-30 |access-date=2011-09-25 |archive-date=3 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703060613/http://www.behindwoods.com/tamil-movie-news-1/jun-11-05/str-dharani-30-06-11.html |url-status=live }} In 2014, he starred, penned, and produced Vincent Selva’s comedy film, Inga Enna Solluthu.{{cite web | url=https://nettv4u.com/celebrity/tamil/comedian/vtv-ganesh | title=Kollywood Comedian VTV Ganesh Biography, News, Photos, Videos }} He was later cast in few more films including Kappal (2014), Romeo Juliet (2015), Vaalu (2015), Vaaliba Raja (2016), Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva (2017), Sakka Podu Podu Raja (2017) and Kalakalappu 2 (2018). He has also acted in Vijay's films such as Beast (2022), Varisu (2023) and The Greatest of All Time (2024).{{cite web|url=https://www.pinkvilla.com/entertainment/box-office/box-office-vijay-starrer-beast-final-worldwide-business-1135133|title=Vijay starrer Beast worldwide closing box office collections|date=23 June 2022|website=Pinkvilla}}{{cite web | url=https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/news/2023/jan/16/vijays-varisu-mints-big-at-box-office-38833.html | title=Vijay's Varisu mints big at box office | website=Cinema Express }}{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/box-office/thalpathy-vijays-the-greatest-of-all-time-goat-witnesses-a-more-than-100-jump-in-usa-premiere-shows/articleshow/112700587.cms|title = Thalpathy Vijay’s The Greatest of All Time (GOAT) witnesses a more than 100% jump in USA premiere shows}}

Filmography

= Tamil films =

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of VTV Ganesh Tamil film acting credits
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Notes
2002	Red	District Collector	Uncredited role
2006	Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu	Dharma	credited as Sudhakar
2007	Pachaikili Muthucharam	Sundar
2008	Vaaranam Aayiram	Anthony	credited as Neelakandan Ganesh
2010	Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya	Ganesh	Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Supporting Actor
rowspan="2"\|2011	Vaanam	"Bajna" Ganesh
Osthe	Neduvaali's Father
rowspan="2"\|2012	Podaa Podi	Arjun's uncle	Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Comedian Nominated, SIIMA Award for Best Comedian
Neethane En Ponvasantham	Ganesh	Guest appearance
rowspan="2"\|2013	Kanna Laddu Thinna Aasaiya	Krishnamoorthy
Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham	Ganesh
rowspan="4"\|2014	Inga Enna Solluthu	Ganesh	{{br list \| Also writer and producer;\|also lyrics and singer for song "Pattampoochi"}}
Thalaivan
Vallavanukku Pullum Aayudham	Deergadarsi
Kappal	Nelson
rowspan="5"\|2015	JK Enum Nanbanin Vaazhkai	Wedding Guest	Guest appearance
Inimey Ippadithaan	Chandra
Romeo Juliet	VTV Ganesh
Vaalu	Kutti Paiya
Trisha Illana Nayanthara	Vishu
rowspan="7"\|2016	Vaaliba Raja	Prabhakaran Sethji
Hello Naan Pei Pesuren	Kavitha's brother
Pencil	Anthony Gonsalves
Enakku Innoru Per Irukku	Benjamin
Muthina Kathirika	Marudhu
Tamilselvanum Thaniyar Anjalum	AC Shakthivel
Veera Sivaji	Security Officer
rowspan="5"\| 2017	Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva	Shaktivel
Shivalinga	N.Murali
Anbanavan Asaradhavan Adangadhavan	Somu
Yaanum Theeyavan	Sundaramurthi
Sakka Podu Podu Raja	J. Neelakandan, Santa's father
2018	Kalakalappu 2	Sait, Aishwarya's father
rowspan="2"\| 2019	Vantha Rajavathaan Varuven	Roshan
Iruttu	Head Constable
2020	Naanga Romba Busy	Oorandai Govindan	Television film
rowspan="2" \| 2021	Iruvar Ullam	Kuralarasan
Tamil Rockers
rowspan="4" \| 2022	Beast	Domnic Irudhayaraj
Prince	Doctor
Coffee with Kadhal	Pilot	Cameo
Varalaru Mukkiyam	Adaikalam
rowspan="6" \| 2023	Varisu	Velraj
Dada	Gokul
Kasethan Kadavulada	Dr. Elangeeran
Let's Get Married	Forest officer
Jailer	Dr. S Dhandapani
Conjuring Kannappan	Anjanenjan
rowspan="5"\|2024	Romeo	Arivazhagan and Janani's uncle
Rathnam	Inspector Muthupandi	Cameo
Aranmanai 4	Carpenter
The Greatest of All Time	Raghavan
Brother	Caretaker Keshav
rowspan="3"\|2025	Aghathiyaa	VTV Ganesh	Cameo
Leg Piece
Perusu	Doctor

= Telugu films =

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of VTV Ganesh Telugu film acting credits
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Notes
2010	Ye Maaya Chesave	Film crew member	Special appearance in "Manasaa" song
2023	Bhagavanth Kesari	Minister
rowspan="4"\| 2024	The Family Star	Ramesh
Aay	Manager Kishore
Bhale Unnade	Darabont
Viswam	Ticket Collector
rowspan="2"\| 2025	Daaku Maharaaj	Inspector Panthulu
Sankranthiki Vasthunam	T. V. Ganesh

= Malayalam films =

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of VTV Ganesh Malayalam film acting credits
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Notes
2023	Bandra	Goswamy
2024	Turbo	Minister Arivazhagan Chella Durai

= As producer =

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of VTV Ganesh film producer credits
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Notes
2010	Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa
2011	Vaanam
2014	Inga Enna Solluthu
2017	Sakka Podu Podu Raja

= As singer =

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of VTV Ganesh film singing credits
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="col" \| Year ! scope="col" \| Title ! scope="col" \| Song ! scope="col" class="unsortable" \| Notes
2014	Inga Enna Solluthu	"Butterfly"	also lyrics
2014	Kappal	"Friendship"	film version only

= Dubbing artist =

class="wikitable"

|+ List of VTV Ganesh film dubbing artist credits

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col"| Actor

! scope="col" | Character

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

! class="unsortable" | {{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

2023

Jawan

Naresh Gossain

Agriculture Minister

Tamil dubbed version

|{{Cite tweet |last=Srinivas |first= Siddarth |author-link= |user=sidhuwrites |number=1699652364574281854 |date=7 September 2023 |title=#Jawan Interval: Importantly, the blending by Atlee to make it a Pan-Indian movie is terrific. Most dubbed films feel alienated but this one feels most close to a Tamil film except for the lip sync part. Great idea to bring in names like VTV Ganesh, George Maryam for the dubbing!|script-title= |trans-title= |language= |retweet= |location= |access-date= |link= |quote= |ref=}}

2024

Mufasa: The Lion King

Young Rafiki

Tamil dubbed version

{{cite web|url=https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/mufasa-the-lion-king-roars-with-indias-top-stars-in-hindi-tamil-telugu-versions-1503366827.html|title=Mufasa The Lion King roars with India's top stars in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu versions|date=20 November 2024|access-date=20 November 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241120082701/https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/mufasa-the-lion-king-roars-with-indias-top-stars-in-hindi-tamil-telugu-versions-1503366827.html|archive-date=20 November 2024|website=Statesman}}

= Music videos =

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+ List of VTV Ganesh music video credits

style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Artist

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes

! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{ref heading}}

2010

! scope="row" | "Semmozhiyaana Thamizh Mozhiyaam"

| A. R. Rahman

| {{Non-album single}}

| style="text-align: center;" |{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/16/stories/2010051660120100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100519120624/http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/16/stories/2010051660120100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 May 2010 |title=Front Page : Theme song launched for world classical Tamil meet |location=India |date=16 May 2010 |work=The Hindu |access-date=5 November 2011}}