Nivin Pauly

Debut and breakthrough (2010–2012)

Nivin auditioned for Malarvaadi Arts Club and was cast by Vineeth Sreenivasan in the role of Prakashan, which marked his debut.^[11][14] Following this, he acted in the films The Metro^[15] and Sevenes,^[16] and did cameos in Traffic and Spanish Masala. He appeared in the music video Nenjodu Cherthu from the album Yuvvh.^[14][17]

The 2012 film Thattathin Marayathu became one of the biggest hits of the year.^[18][19] He played the role of Vinod, a Hindu boy madly in love with Ayesha, a Muslim girl.^[20] This was Vineeth Sreenivasan's second film as a director. This also secured his position as one of the finest actors in the Malayalam film industry.^[21] He received offers from directors, including Sathyan Anthikad, Rajesh Pillai, Aashiq Abu, and Shyamaprasad.^[22]

Rise to prominence (2013–2015)

Nivin made his debut in Tamil with the bilingual film Neram.^[18]The film was director Alphonse Puthren's directorial debut and was noted for its non-linear screenplay. His other Malayalam films in 2013 include 5 Sundarikal and Sunil Ibrahim's Arikil Oraal. The latter was a psychological thriller in which he played the role of Ichcha, a waiter at a café. In 5 Sundarikal, he acted in the segment "Isha" directed by Sameer Thahir. He also acted in Shyamaprasad's English: An Autumn in London where he portrayed the character of a London-born dapper playboy.^[23]

In 2014, he played the role of Rameshan in Abrid Shine's directorial debut 1983, a coming-of-age sports film.^[24] His portrayal of Rameshan from his school life, well into adulthood earned him the Best Actor Award at the 2014 Kerala State Film Awards.^[25] This film also fetched him multiple other awards including the Best Actor (Malayalam) at the Filmfare Awards South^[26] and South Indian International Movie Awards,^[27] and Most Popular Actor at the Vanitha Film Awards.^{[citation needed]} This was followed by debutant Jude Anthany Joseph's romantic comedy Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, in which he portrayed the role of Giri and was released a week after 1983. "Sify" stated that the director Jude Anthany Joseph "creates an engaging enough drama in Ohm Shanthi Oshaana, that you're happy to emotionally invest in [it]."^[28] His next release Bangalore Days was the coming-of-age romantic comedy drama directed by Anjali Menon. Nivin essayed the role of Krishnan "Kuttan" P P, a software engineer who is judgemental about modern life without really thinking about his own hypocrisies.^[29] This role was also taken into account by the jury for the Best Actor award at the 2014 Kerala State Film Awards. The film was released in 205 theaters across India, making it one of the biggest releases for a Malayalam film at the time.^{[citation needed]} In the same year, he played an extended cameo in the Lal Jose film Vikramadithyan, as an assistant district magistrate.

In 2015, Nivin appeared in Mili, Oru Vadakkan Selfie and Ivide. He plays the role of a soft-skills trainer, Naveen in Mili,^[30] directed by Rajesh Pillai. He followed this up with the "road-comedy film" Oru Vadakkan Selfie, directed by G. Prajith and scripted by Vineeth Sreenivasan.

He then acted in Premam, where he played the role of George David. It grossed over 600 million, and became one of the highest grossing Malayalam movies, catapulting him into the '50-crore club'.^[31][32][33] The film collected ₹2 crore from Tamil Nadu box office in its 300 days theatrical run making it the highest grossing Malayalam film in Tamil Nadu at the time.^{[citation needed]} Nivin's portrayal of George was featured in the Film Companion's 100 Greatest Performances of the Decade.^[34] Praising his performance, the Film Companion wrote: "His performance had charm, mischief, and most impressively, vulnerability."

Continued success and critical acclaim (2016–2021)

Nivin produced Action Hero Biju in 2016 under his banner Pauly Jr. Pictures.^[35] The film, a police procedural drama, was directed by Abrid Shine. As sub-inspector Biju Poulose, the film and the role portrays an honest look at the life of a police official. The film also has the highest opening gross for a Malayalam film in Tamil Nadu.^{[citation needed]} The movie was well received by the police fraternity in Kerala.^[36][37] He also starred in the family-drama Jacobinte Swargarajyam directed by Vineeth Srinivasan. Based on a true story, he played the role of Jerry, the son of Jacob Zacharia who struggles to clear his father's debts.

His next film was a political drama Sakhavu in which he played dual roles.^[38] Directed by Sidhartha Siva, this was the first dual role in his career, where he portrayed a student political leader and a senior social activist and comrade who fights for his left-wing ideals.

Nivin appeared in his first straight Tamil feature film through Gautham Ramachandran's crime drama Richie (2017), where he portrayed a small town thug.^[39] He also starred in the dramedy Njandukalude Nattil Oridavela. This film was his second outing as a producer.^[40] The film which was received well at the box office^[41] was a heart-warming story which portrayed that cancer is never the end of the road for everyone involved.^[42]

In 2018, the big-budget movie Kayamkulam Kochunni, directed by Rosshan Andrrews made a significant impact at the Kerala box office, and across all territories that it was released as well. This film put Nivin in the 100 crore club.^[43] He came together with Shyamaprased for a third time for the romantic-comedy Hey Jude (film). Nivin plays the role of a mathematical genius, yet socially awkward Jude who like his namesake Beatles song finds himself in spite of his perceived shortcomings.^[44]

In 2019, Nivin played the role of Dr Mikhael John in Haneef Adeni's action-thriller Mikhael. This was followed by Love Action Drama, a romantic comedy which also saw commercial success at the box office.^[45] Nivin next appeared in Geetu Mohandas' film Moothon which was screened at several international film festivals worldwide including Toronto International Film Festival,^[46] New York Indian Film Festival,^[47] FFAST (Paris),^[48] Indian Film Festival of Melbourne^[49] and Mumbai Film Festival.^[50] He won the award for the best actor at the New York Indian Film Festival for his role in Moothon.^[51] Nivin portrayed the dark and demoralising world of Moothon as Akbar^[52] which fetched him the Kerala State Film Awards – Special Mention in 2019.^[53] The film was the screened as the opening film at the Mumbai Film Festival Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image and as the grand finale at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.^[54] Nivin's role as Akbar in this film was also featured in Film Companion's 100 Greatest Performances of the Decade.^[34]

In 2021, he starred in Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval's Kanakam Kaamini Kalaham, a family drama with satire and absurd-comedies^[55] elements.

Recent work, career fluctuations and resurgence(2022–present)

The fantasy film Mahaveeryar was Nivin's first release of the year directed by Abrid Shine and was released on 21 July 2022, to critical acclaim.^[56] However, the film underperformed at the box office.^[57] The climax of the film was later changed, which was better received by the audience. The teaser of Mahaveeryar garnered 6 million views within 24 hours of its launch making it the then most viewed teaser in Malayalam cinema.^[58] His next film, action thriller Padavettu, an action thriller directed by debutant Liju Krishna had its theatrical release on 21 October 2022, to critical acclaim from the critics but didn't performed well at the box office.^[59][60][61] The trailer of Padavettu was launched to a full house at the inaugural match of the Indian Super League 2022 at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kochi; making it the first film to have the trailer launch at the ISL.^[62] This was followed by the comedy drama Saturday Night, directed by Rosshan Andrrews, which released on 4 November 2022. It received largely negative reviews from both the critics and audience, alike, and failed at the box office.^[63][64] In 2023, Nivin appeared on screen as Mattanchery Moidu in Rajeev Ravi's film Thuramukham. Though it opened to mixed reviews, Nivin was praised for his sublime performance. Then he appeared in Ramachandra Boss & Co which received negative reviews and ended up as a box office bomb.^[65]

In 2024, he appeared in Varshangalkku Shesham, directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan, in a cameo role as Nithin Molly which received widespread praise from the audience for his performance and the film was a commercial success. His next film Malayalee from India, directed by Dijo Jose Antony, was released to mixed reviews and underperformed at the box office.^[66][67]

After a series of commercial setbacks, he made a huge comeback with the Christmas 2025 release Sarvam Maya, directed by Akhil Sathyan, the son of Sathyan Anthikad. It received generally positive reviews and became a huge commercial success, grossing over ₹150 crores worldwide and marking a revival in his career.^[68]

His film Baby Girl, a medical thriller directed by Arun Varma, was released on 23 January 2026.^[69] His upcomiong projects include the Tamil film Yezhu Kadal Yezhu Malai, directed by Ram,^[70] as well as Action Hero Biju 2, Gangster of Mundanmala, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, Shekara Varma Rajavu, and the LCU entry Benz.^[71][72] He has also announced a new project titled Dear Students, which will be produced under his home banner.^[73]

Films

• All films are in Malayalam, unless otherwise noted.

Short films

Web series

As a producer

• All films are in Malayalam, produced under Nivin Pauly's home banner Pauly Jr. Pictures unless otherwise noted.

Music videos

Story idea