Adithya Menon is an Indian actor who appears in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films. He is best known for playing the role in Tamil films like Jay Jay as Sivaram (2003), Arinthum Ariyamalum as ACP Thiyagarajan (2005), Billa as Anil Menon (2007), and Telugu films like Mirchi as Babai (2013), Bluff Master as Pasupathi (2018), and Karthikeya 2 as Santanu (2022).
Wiki/Biography
Anil Menon was born on Saturday, 6 April 1974 (age 48 years; as of 2022) in Mumbai. His zodiac sign is Aries. Adithya’s parents migrated to Al Satwa in Dubai, UAE, and he was brought up in Dubai. He completed his schooling at Our Own English High School in Dubai (1978-1992). After completing his schooling in Dubai, at the age of 18, Adithya shifted back to India. In 1992, he enrolled himself to earn a degree in civil engineering from the M. S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology in Bangalore.
Childhood picture of Adithya Menon
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 6′ 2″
Weight (approx.): 90 kg
Hair Colour: Salt & Pepper
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Body Measurements (approx.): Chest 42″, Waist 35″, Biceps 16″
Family
Adithya Menon belongs to a Malayali family, which hailed from Palghat in Kerala.
Parents & Siblings
Adithya’s father’s name is Csk Menon.
Adithya Menon’s father, Csk Menon
His mother’s name is Suseela Menon.
Adithya Menon, along with his mother, Suseela Menon
Adithya has a younger brother, Kamal Menon.
Adithya Menon (right), along with his brother, Kamal Menon
Wife & Children
There is not much information about Adithya’s marital status. He has a daughter.
Adithya Menon with his daughter
Religion
Adithya Menon describes himself as an atheist.
Career
Event manager/Master of ceremonies (MC)
While completing his engineering, Adithya worked as a radio host with Radio Midday. He appeared as a host for various college functions and events. After completing his graduation, in 1996, he started working as an event manager and hosted different ceremonies, stage shows, conferences, launch events, and fashion shows in Bangalore. After working as a host for a few years, Adithya realised his passion for acting, and he started participating in a few plays and stage shows in Bangalore. In an interview, he talked about aspirations of becoming an actor and said,
Acting is something I’ve always wanted to do. There’s a sense of satisfaction at being able to make a living by doing what I enjoy.”
In 2001, he shifted to Royapettah in Chennai to gain more acting opportunities.
Founder
Adithya Menon is the founder and CEO of Sustainable Solutions International, LLC, a privately owned company, which is responsible for developing technologies to optimize biomass energy and attain organic waste management.
Film
In 2003, Adithya made his Tamil debut with the film Anjaneya in which he played the role of Siva.
Adithya Menon as Siva in a still from his debut film Anjaneya (2003)
In 2004, he made his Malayalam debut with the film Vamanapuram Bus Route in which he played the role of Karipidi Gopi.
Poster of Adithya Menon’s Malayalam debut film Vamanapuram Bus Route (2004) in which he appeared as Karipidi Gopi
In 2009, he made his Telugu debut with the film Billa in which he played the role of Aditya.
Poster of Adithya Menon’s debut Telugu film Billa in which he played the role of Aditya
In 2014, Adhithya made his Kannada debut with the film Shivajinagara in which he played the role of a police officer.
Adithya Menon in a still from his debut Kannada film Shivajinagara (2014)
In an interview, Adithya talked about his love for Kannada cinema and the role he played in his debut Kannada film Shivajinagara and said,
I have always felt romantic about Kannada because I started my career here. I felt the script of Shivajinagara was perfect as my character is that of a good guy with shades of grey. In fact, it will take time for the audience to realize that he’s actually a good guy, who makes sacrifices for the sake of goodness,”
In 2015, Adithya made his Bollywood debut with the film Main Hoon (Part-Time) Killer in which he played the role of Rajinikanth.
Poster of Adithya Menon’s Bollywood debut film Main Hoon (Part-Time) Killer (2015) in which he played the role of Rajinikanth
In 2022, he made headlines for playing the role of Santanu in the Telugu film Karthikeya 2.
Adithya Menon as Santanu in a still from the Telugu film Karthikeya 2 (2022)
Television
Adithya made his television debut with the Kannada show Musanje Katha Prasanga on ETV Kannada.
Poster of Adithya Menon’s debut television show Musanje Katha Prasanga on ETV Kannada
He acted in the show Soorya Shikari on ETV Kannada. In 2001, Adithya acted in the Tamil television show Thanthira Bhoomi on Sun TV. In 2003, he appeared in the show Anni on Jaya TV.
Poster of the Tamil television show Anni on Jaya TV
Controversy
Garnered controversy for film’s title
Adithya Menon’s Bollywood debut film, Main Hoon Rajinikanth, was initially set to be released in 2014, but as the trailer of the film released on 15 September 2015, it landed into trouble. Rajinikanth filed a civil suit against the film’s production house, Varsha Productions, in the Madras high court to stop the release and screening of a film for using his name in the title, pictures, caricature, and his style of delivering dialogue in the film without any prior authorisation.
Poster of the Bollywood film Main Hoon Rajinikanth
Rajinikanth alleged that the film was promoted as his biopic, which might defame him and offend his fans. However, the film’s director, Faisal Saif, denied the allegation and claimed that apart from the name, he hasn’t used any kind of image, caricature, or personality attributes of Rajinikanth in the film. He even held a special screening of the film for Rajinikanth, and his daughter, Soundarya Rajinikanth, to prove that there was nothing objectionable to him in the film. On 16 January 2015, a stay order was issued by the court against the release of the film as it offended the right to privacy and dignity of Rajinikanth. On 3 February 2015, the court announced the final verdict in favour of Rajinikanth and asked the makers of the film to remove Rajinikanth from the title, any kind of picture, caricature, or his style of dialogue delivery from the film. Later, the film’s title was changed to Main Hoon (Part-Time) Killer and it was released on 22 May 2015 across North India by Dimension Pictures. However, to avoid legal disputes, the film was not released in South India. In an interview, on being asked about the ongoing legal dispute between the production house and Rajinikanth regarding the release of the film, Adithya replied,
Our film is a tribute to the ‘thalaivar’ (Rajinikanth). It’s a comedy satire that will leave audiences in splits. Nobody would dare to show Rajini sir in bad light through a film. How could we possibly do it. Besides the name, there’s nothing in our film that defames Rajini sir. I’m sure when people watch the film, they’ll realize it’s a clean comedy entertainer. I hope we get to release our film smoothly. We have completed shooting. My director and producer will take a final call on this matter.
Favourites
- Music Genre(s): Jazz, Hip Hop, Hindi Remixes, Dance, and Retro
- Book(s): Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind by Sandra Blakeslee and Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, Games People Play by Eric Berne
- Quote: “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity”
Facts/Trivia
- Adithya is proficient in languages like Hindi, English, Russian, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Arabic.
- Adithya is often spotted consuming alcoholic beverages and smoking cigarettes occasionally at events.
Adithya Menon holding a glass of whiskey
Adithya Menon’s Instagram post about his smoking habit
- Adithya’s hobbies include cooking, travelling, dancing, singing, and playing different musical instruments like piano and guitar. In an interview, he talked about his hobbies and said,
I can make multiple cuisines. I like traveling and history, too. In fact, chasing historical references while traveling excites me.”
- Adithya follows a non-vegetarian diet.
Adithya Menon’s Instagram post about his eating habits
- Adithya is not a trained singer, but he is fond of singing and often shares his videos on social media platforms.
- In March 2021, while shooting for an action sequence for the film Harihara Veeramallu starring Pawan Kalyan, Adithya met with an accident while riding a horse. He was immediately hospitalized, and he had to have 15 stitches in the left leg. In an interview, he talked about the accident, which resulted after he lost his balance while riding a horse and said,
It was a bad mishap; I was in extreme pain and I was immediately rushed to my caravan for first aid. I got a few bruises and sharp cuts on the inner left thigh. I got up on my own though I was bleeding. It was not anyone’s fault; these things sometimes happen. It shows that while working with animals, there’s always a danger.”
- Adithya was the dubbing artist for Suniel Shetty’s character, Hariharan Hari Chopra, in the Tamil film Darbar (2020) starring Rajinikanth.