Mime Gopi is an Indian actor who is predominantly know for his work in Tamil and Telugu film industry. Hs is known for delivering phenomenal performance in a variety of roles, Some of his most are Madras, Maari, Kabali, Maragadha Naanayam, Maragadha Naanayam, Cocktail, and Pushpa: The Rise.
Wiki/Biography
Mime Gopi was born on Sunday, 29 June 1975 (age 46 years; as of 2021) in Chennai, India. He attended Singaram Pillai Higher Secondary School, Villivakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu for primary and secondary education. Later, he got himself enrolled at University of Madras to pursue his higher education. For further education he went to YMCA College of Physical Education, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Mime had interest in studies as well as in extra curricular activities since childhood. He used to participate in various cultural programs and fancy dress competitions during his school days. During his university days, he started performing as a mime actor and later continued to pursue a career in same.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 6″
Eye Colour: Black
Hair Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Sibling
Not much information is available about his family.
Career
As mime artist
Mime Gopi developed his interest towards mime acting and started performing as a mime artist. Mime is a type of acting which uses body motions without the use of speech to express story. He performed at the University celebration in front of the 3,000 audience and the chief guest of the celebration was the former minister Mr.Anbazhagan, which rose a high spirit in him and gave a boost to his mime acting. He received the “Best Student Award” at Loyola College by their college principal for delivering the quality of performance which inspired him to pursue further in the field. Gopi, the passionate mime actor, has performed on more than 10,000 stages worldwide and he has received huge appreciation for skills. With the experience of more than 22 years in theater, he established G-Studio, a mime school, The institution has been involved in training actors for their performance in several successful films including Vallinam. Acting and theatre courses are also conducted. It has been training college students, especially those of Loyola and Ethiraj, for variety entertainment. He started a studio on his own and taught many students,from the local to international students abroad. This award inspired him to receive many more. He has trained many future actors and actresses.Commencement of his film career grew after he made up his mind to act in movies like ‘Madras’ and‘Kabal. G-Studio has been conducting mime shows for various causes, as well as to create awareness on any issue of public concern. The studio presents motivation programmes, street plays for awareness programmes conducted by Government, pantomime shows and sound and lights shows. During an intervier, when asked about the fund raising events organised by the studio, Mime Gopi said,
We also do shows to raise funds for education of poor students. Deserving candidates are supported by us throughout their education,” From the moment we are born we are entertained by the gimmicky hand movements of those around us. When we are unable to communicate verbally, it’s our instinct to mime.”
Acting
Mime Gopi made his acting debut with a Tamil language film ‘Kannum Kannum,’ directed by G. Marimuthu and released on 21 March 2008. He played a character named Shiva, sharing the screen with Prasanna, Udhayathara, Vadivelu, Santhanam, and Vijayakumar. The film was also premiered on Kalaignar TV as part of their Gandhi Jayanthi Special Programmes on 2 October 2008. Next, he did a cameo role in ‘Aadatha Aattamellam,’ a A. B. Azhagar directed drama film. In 2010, Mime became part of Sudha Kongara Prasad written and directed action film ‘Drohi.’ He starred opposite Srikanth, Vishnu, Poorna, Poonam Bajwa, and Thiagarajan, and portrayed the role of lead character’s friend. Later he became part of films like Uyarthiru 420, Inam, and Vaayai Moodi Pesavum. Mime Gopi got the breakthrough of his career with Pa. Ranjith written and directed Tamil-language political action drama film ‘Madras.’ He played the role of Perumal opposite Karthi, Catherine Tresa, Kalaiyarasan, Charles Vinoth, Riythvika, V. I. S. Jayapalan, and Poster Nandakumar. The film was released theatrically on 26 September 2014 and it showcased the story of Kaali (Karthi) and his friend Anbu (Kalaiyarasan), a political aspirant, who get embroiled in a brutal political rivalry, between two factions of a political party, after laying claim to a wall. His performance in the film brought him huge limelight and earned critical acclaims.
In the same year, he became part of other two films which were ‘Kayal’ and ‘Ennamo Nadakkudhu.’ In 2015, he appeared on screen as Ravi, a local gangster who wants to get rid of Maari with Arjun, in the film ‘Maari.’ The Balaji Mohan directed action comedy film received mixed reviews from the audience. Following this he acted in films like Papparapaam, Maya, Unakkenna Venum Sollu, Dummy Tappasu, and Gethu. In 2016, he made his onscreen appearance as Kandhan in Udhayanidhi Stalin produced action thriller film ‘Gethu.’ The film tells a story about a hitman who comes to stay in a hilly town with the ambition of murdering a top scientist, but a young village man and his righteous father stand in his way to demolish his goal. Following this, he became part of another Tamil-language action thriller film ‘Kathakali.’ He shared the screen with Vishal and Catherine Tresa, playing the character of Gnanavel Rajarathinam. Later, he was seen in film like Uriyadi, Karuvadu Kumar, Kattappava Kanom, 8 Thottakkal, Maragadha Naanayam, and Velaikkaran. With time Mime Gopi refined his acting skills and became one of the top choices of Tamil film directors to work with. One of his most appreciated film in 2016 was ‘Kabali.’ He left everyone amazed with the the quality of performance he deliver in the film and also received huge critical acclaims for it. The film stars Rajinikanth in the lead role, and Radhika Apte, Winston Chao, Sai Dhanshika, Kishore, Dinesh, Kalaiyarasan, John Vijay, and Mime Gopi in supporting roles. Mime played a villain named Loganathan opposite Rajinikanth in the film. Till 2021, he worked in more than 50 Tamil language film. In 2021, he was featured in one of the biggest hits of the year ‘Pushpa: The Rise.’ He portrayed the role of Chennai Murugan in the Telugu-language action drama film ‘Pushpa: The Rise,’ written and directed by Sukumar. The plot of the film revolves around Pushpa Raj, a coolie, who was born and raised in the world of red sandalwood smuggling. The film received huge critical acclaims and was a huge hit on Box office. His next performance was seen in Amara Raja Media and Entertainment’s ction comedy thriller film Hero, released on 15 January 2022.
Mime Gopi look from the film ‘Pushpa, The Rise’
Facts/Trivia
- Apart from acting, Mime Gopi had a great interest in sports as well. His favourite sports since childhood was basketball.
- The Kabali actor has been in the industry for more than 20 years and has a good experience in working with a variety of director. During an interview, when asked about the changes he feels working with thee young directors of newer generations, he said,
Today, every young director wants to try something new. The manner in which they approach a script, write the characters and work with artistes… it’s all different. Most importantly, they have a lot of clarity. They have a fire within them and they want to bring about a change in cinema. I like the way some directors extract work from me. They appreciate us, and at the same time, encourage us to give our best shot. This way, the job is done well. So, I am really happy working with youngsters.”
- His shift from being a mime actor to acting in films was not an easy road. He narrated his experience as,
It was difficult in the beginning as mime was not an easy concept for the audience to grasp. Many think mime is a silent medium but I consider it a precursor to theatre.”
- He always had respect for his teachers and liked two teachers the most, his Tamil teacher Veeraiya and Nagamuthu, because they were a great source of motivation for him.
- As a socially concerned individual, he is associated with a number of non profit organisations and also does fund raising events with his G-Studio. He took 20 children from Chennai to Coimbatore through flight. They were made to stay in a Five Star hotel and also taken to all tourist spots in and around Coimbatore. It was life time dream of these children to travel in flight. The specially added children wore costly dress and they were taken to airport in a Jaguar Car. All of the arrangements were made to fulfill their dreams.
- On 29 september 2021, Shree Rudraksha Arts and Dance University honoured Mime Gopi with a doctoral award for his contribution to Mime Arts.
Mime Gopi honoured BY Shree Rudraksha Arts and Dance University with a doctoral award
- He is an active environmentalist and advises people to grow trees as much as possible. He does his best to keep his surrounding clean and green.
