Ashwin Kakumanu

Ashwin Kakumanu (born 5 July 1987 in Chennai) is an Indian film actor, who is best known for his role as Ganesh in Venkat Prabhu's Tamil action thriller, Mankatha.

Ashwin initially unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. The director Gautham Menon was close to giving him the role. But Ashwin was noticed by the assistant directors of the film and recommended him for the role as Arjun, the boyfriend of Sameera Reddy's character in Nadunisi Naaygal.

Ashwin Kakumanu was later signed to portray a role in Venkat Prabhu's Mankatha which featured an ensemble cast including Ajith Kumar, Vaibhav Reddy and Arjun after Prabhu was impressed with a short film which Ashwin had directed and acted. Ashwin appeared as a local Dharavi police officer, replacing Ganesh Venkatraman who had pulled out of the film. Mankatha released to critical and commercial acclaim in August 2011, with Ashwin gaining recognition for his portrayal. He was next seen in A. R. Murugadoss's 7aum Arivu in a supporting role as Ashwin, a young scientist, who helps put together a plan alongside the characters played by Suriya and Shruti Haasan. He also appeared in a supporting role in Gautham Menon's Ekk Deewana Tha featuring Prateik Babbar and Amy Jackson.

He had first leading role in the 2013 comedy film Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara and went on to star in the Ilaiyaraaja musical Megha. Among his upcoming projects are Zero, a supernatural thriller that features Ashwin as a social worker, Thiri, directed by Ashok Amritraj, cinematographer-turned-director Siva's next film starring Ajith Kumar, and Thollaikatchi, a "romantic comedy film with a social message" directed by M.sadiq khan.