Madhuvanti Arun

Mahuvanthi Arun is a dancer, theater performer, and Indian educationist. She was born on 6 November 1977. She was born to Mr. Y.G.Mahendra who is well-known personality in the Tamil cinema and theater circles. She is the granddaughter of Shri.Y.G.Parthasarathy, who began social themes in Tamil Theater and was Principle of Film and Television Institute of India (a self-governing body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting), and Mrs. Y.G.Parthasarathy, who is a well-known educationist. Her uncle is the invincible superstar ‘ Rajinikanth 'Rajinikanth' is the name that is known in >> Read More... ’.

She did her schooling from Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan where later on she taught dance and became the nursery co-coordinator. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communication from Loyala College, Chennai and Master’s in Education. She has also learned advertising and commercial techniques from Rajeev Menon Productions. She learned Bharatnatyam from Pudma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subhramaniam and did dance performances in U.S.A., Canada, Malaysia and U.K. When she was a little girl she wanted to become an astronaut. She is co-founder and management trustee of Calibre Educational Foundation. She believes that addition of art in academics is panaceas to deal with the high pressure of the studies.

She says that youngsters don’t appreciate art and our culture because they were neither taught nor shown to them. Dance, yoga, and music are mandatory subjects in her school for students up to 10th standard. Her school is the first one in the country to incorporate robotics as a discipline up to 9th standartd. They use interactive computer technology (I.C.T.) to teach the students. The school has computer based Words-Worth lab which lets students interact with the computer, for instance, computer speaks a word and the student repeats it, if pronunciation goes wrong then computer points that out in a friendly manner. It has labs and learning stations and the concept of a classroom is completely done away with.

They don’t have notebooks but computer based touch-boards which let students download and submit homework online. They have tie ups with music and dance schools for the students who want to take up art as a career. They also have tie ups with U.K. for expansion of the foundation. Her son also studies in the school. She wants to expand Calibre Educational foundation till it becomes a University. She wants students to receive education about mainstream subjects and extra-curricular subjects. She wants people to remember her as “Edutainer” i.e. a mix of entertainer and educationist. She gifted her grandmother with a school named after her on her 80th birthday which later got changed to Calibre Academy.

The inauguration of school was done, in 2005, by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. It is present in Mylapore. She met her husband, Arun Kumar Vaddi (a former advertiser and film maker) in Loyala College and got married after three years. Her husband also comes from a rich legacy of Gemini Ganeshan and ‘ Savitri Click to look into! >> Read More... ’. His grandfather was a political activist. He and Madhuvanthi together started Calibre Educational Foundation. They also started a company named “Cutting Edge” which specializes in film making. The duo started an NGO called Natyam Trust which promotes art and Indian culture. She started a company called Maham Enterprise, a media company. She is cast in movies ‘ Kadamban Click to look into! >> Read More... ’ and ‘ Dharmadurai Click to look into! >> Read More... ’. Seemu Ramasamy, the director, went to watch her play Permule and liked her. He offered her a part in his film.

Her second project (Kadamban), directed by ‘ Raghavan Click to look into! >> Read More... ’, is with her father. She admires the work of director Vetri Maaran and Mani Ratnam Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker deeply rooted t >> Read More... . She likes the writings of M.S. Vishwanathan and ‘ Kannadasan Kannadasan is an eminent prolific writer and poet. >> Read More... ’. She is a director and debuted with a crime thriller, based on ‘Wait until Dark,’ called ‘ Shakthi Click to look into! >> Read More... ’. ‘Siva Samvo’ is a comedy based production. She is a member of an organization for women called Chennai Chapter of YEO. In 2008, she received the Ritz Achievement Award. She is paving her way in the world of cinema, performing arts and education with her efforts and hard work.