Saravanan (born 10 October 1966 in Salem, Tamil Nadu) is an Indian actor and director who works in Tamil cinema. The second of five children of a police inspector father and a staff nurse mother, he grew up in Salem and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Tamil Literature from Government Arts College, Salem. He then moved to Chennai and completed an acting course at the Adyar Film Institute. He debuted as a lead actor in Vaidehi Vandhachu (1991) and went on to play the lead in around 26 Tamil films throughout the 1990s. He later turned producer with Vishwanath (1996) and Santosham (1998), but incurred financial losses from the latter and took a hiatus, organising concerts abroad to clear his debts. He returned to films with a supporting role in Bala's Nandhaa (2001) and later directed Thayumanavan (2003). His career was revived when he played Chevvaazhai, the memorable paternal uncle of Karthi's character, in Ameer's Paruthiveeran (2007), for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor - Tamil. He subsequently continued in supporting character roles across Tamil cinema. In 2019, he participated in Bigg Boss Tamil Season 3 but was ejected from the house on Day 43 following public outcry over remarks he made about past misconduct.
Lead roles in Tamil films from 1991-1998 including Vaidehi Vandhachu (1991); Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor Tamil for his role as Chevvaazhai in Paruthiveeran (2007) directed by Ameer.
