Shanthi Arvind

Some Lesser Known Facts About Shanthi Arvind

• Shanthi Arvind is an Indian actor, dancer, and choreographer who predominantly works in the Tamil film and television industry.

• At the age of 13, Shanthi started working full-time in the cinema.

• According to Shanthi, she bought a membership card for a dance union in the 1990s after working for almost nine choreographers. She was selected by one of them after dancing nearly ten times and waiting for several hours at his door.

• In an interview, while talking about her struggling days as a dancer, Shanthi revealed that she was teased by directors and others because of her skinny and tall appearance. ^[5]Cinema Vikatan

• According to Shanthi, she used to put on multi-layers of pants and shirts to avoid looking thin. ^[6]Cinema Vikatan

• Shanthi once recalled a moment from the initial days of her career as a dancer when she was slapped by a music master on the set of a shoot as she could not give the best shot because a powdered substance got into her eyes that was supposed to fall on her and other dancers’ face. ^[7]Cinema Vikatan While talking about this incident in an interview, Shanthi said,
  

  A shot like powder falling on the faces of the dancers during a song shoot. I was sitting down, not knowing if it would fall into my eyes, when the powder fell on me. I’m going to have to take a second tag. So, in anger, that song master slapped me on the cheek in front of everyone. It took me a long time to control my crying. “I got stung by the ring…” my fellow dancers calmed me down.” ^[8]Cinema Vikatan

• Shanthi’s work in the Tamil language soap opera titled ‘Metti Oli’ made her popularly known as “Metti Oli Shanthi.” In an interview, Shanthi revealed how the title song of Metti Oli was choreographed and recorded in just one night. While talking about it, Shanthi said,
  

  In 2002, we shot the title intro song just a few days before the ‘Meddi Oli’ serial aired. When the dance master was busy in the cinema. Then my friend Kandas forced me to sing the song that he had mastered. ‘It’s a serial song.. OK. But I agreed to dance by saying that I will not wear any accessories. First, three people were dancing as the main dancer. Thirumurugan, the director of that serial, said, ‘I am your fan. So, only you should dance as the main dancer’. Only one night, The shooting of the song ‘Ammi Ammi Ammi Mithitu… Arundhati Mogham Bhetu’ took place.” ^[9]Cinema Vikatan

• Shanthi Arvind, in 2022, appeared in an Indian television reality show ‘Bigg Boss Tamil Season 6’ as a contestant.

  

• In an interview, Shanthi shared one of her thoughts from the distressing days of her career when she almost decided to terminate her second pregnancy as she was already coping up to chase the competition as a choreographer in the cinematic world after her break from the first pregnancy. Shanthi added,
  

  I got married and took a break from cinema to take care of my first child. Then, when I was looking for an opportunity, I got pregnant for the second time. For the sake of cinema, I thought of dissolving that embryo. But, the family did not agree.” ^[10]Cinema Vikatan

• Shanthi Arvind feels obligated to Thirumurugan, an Indian director who predominantly works in Tamil films and television series, for giving her a chance to work in a film directed by him. While expressing her gratefulness to Thirumurugan in an interview, Shanthi said,
  

  The double horse of acting and dance master is going very well. No matter how high I go, I will always be grateful to director Thirumurugan sir.” ^[11]Cinema Vikatan