Neeraj Madhav (born 26 March 1990), also known by his stage name NJ is an Indian actor, rapper and dancer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Neeraj is most popular for his role as Moosa Rehman in the Amazon prime web series The Family Man.

Neeraj Madhav
Neeraj in 2015
Born	(1990-03-26) 26 March 1990 (age 32)[1][2] Kozhikode, Kerala, India
Alma mater	SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kanchipuram School of Drama and Fine Arts, Thrissur
Occupation	Actor screenwriter rapper choreographer dancer
Years active	2013–present
Spouse	Deepthi Janardhan ​ (m. 2018)​
Children	1

He is also known for his roles in Drishyam (2013), 1983 (2014), Sapthamashree Thaskaraha (2014), Oru Vadakkan Selfie (2015), Adi Kapyare Kootamani (2015), Oru Mexican Aparatha (2017).[3]

Early and Personal life

Neeraj is a native of Calicut district in Kerala. He did his schooling from St. Joseph's Boys' Higher Secondary School, Calicut. Then graduated in Visual communications from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kanchipuram and later did post-graduation in Theatre from School of Drama and Fine Arts, Thrissur. His father Dr. K. Madhavan is a veterinarian, and his mother Latha, a teacher.

The young talent started off as a dancer with the first edition of reality television programme ‘Super Dancer’ on Amrita TV and made it to the final round. Neeraj is also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, having learned it under Kalamandalam Saraswathy and her daughter, Aswathy. He is also trained in chenda and is a disciple of Kalanilayam Udayan Namboodiri.

Neeraj has a younger brother Navneeth Madhav, another dancer turned actor in the family. He has acted in films such as Shikkar, Kottarathil Kutty Bhootham,Nallavan and Manikyakkallu and TV series such as Kuttichathan.[3]

Neeraj married his long time girlfriend Deepthi on April 2, 2018, who is also a native of Kozhikode.[4] The couple has a daughter born in 2021.[5][6]

Career

Neeraj made his entry to the Malayalam cinema industry through Raaj Prabavathy Menon's Buddy into which he was selected through an audition. He was later noticed by director Jeethu Joseph and was invited to be a part of his movies Memories and Drishyam, both turned out to be box office successes, with the latter becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever. Meanwhile, Neeraj also acted in Abrid Shine's 1983 and Sathyan Anthikad's Oru Indian Pranayakadha.[3]

Anil Radhakrishnan Menon's Sapthamashree Thaskaraha - the story of seven thieves in which Neeraj plays one of the lead characters alongside Prithviraj, Anoop Kannan's Homely Meals and Apothecary (film) - a medical drama directed by Madhav Ramadasan are also other noted performances of the actor.[3][7]

Neeraj also debuted as an official choreographer through Oru Vadakkan Selfie, scripted by Vineeth Sreenivasan, with the fun song "Enne thallendammava".[8][9] His other releases in 2015 also include Jamna Pyari, Kunjiramayanam, Madhura Naranga, KL.10 Pathu, Charlie and Adi Kapyare Kootamani.[10]

The movie Oozham, which has Prithviraj in the lead, has Neeraj in a full-length role.[11] Neeraj also portrayed a pivotal role in Tom Emmatty's Oru Mexican Aparatha.

Neeraj debuted as a screenplay writer through the movie Lavakusha in 2017 and also played one of the title characters in this along with Aju Varghese.

Neeraj plays his first lead role in the movie Paippin Chuvattile Pranayam. It was directed by debutant Domin D'Silva. He portrays Govindankutty, a daily wage laborer in this movie.

In 2019, Neeraj starred as the main antagonist, Moosa Rehman in the web series titled The Family Man. This action-drama series by Amazon Prime Video is helmed and produced by director duo Raj and DK. The series also stars Manoj Bajpayee, Priyamani and Kishore in major roles.

In July 2020, he released a rap song titled "Pani Paali".[12]

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

• All films are in Malayalam language unless otherwise noted.

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2013	Buddy	Govindh
	Memories	Mechanic
	Drishyam	Monichan
	Oru Indian Pranayakadha	Charlie
2014	1983	Prahladan	[3][13]
	Apothecary	Shenoy
	Sapthamashree Thaskaraha	Narayanankutti
	Homely Meals	Arun
2015	Mariyam Mukku	Dennis	[3][13]
	Oru Vadakkan Selfie[8]	Thankaprasad/Thankamma
	Madhura Naranga	Kumar
	KL.10 Pathu	Aftab/Appu
	Just Married	Riyaz
	Jamna Pyari	Tony Kurishinkal
	Kunjiramayanam	Kanjuttan
	Charlie	Ansari
	Adi Kapyare Kootamani	Remo
2016	Oozham	Ajmal	[11]
2017	Oru Mexican Aparatha	Subhash
	Lavakusha	Lavan	Also writer
	Paipin Chuvattile Pranayam	Govutty/Govindankutty
2018	Rosapoo	Ambros
2019	Allu Ramendran	Neeraj Madhav	Cameo
2020	Gauthamante Radham	Gauthaman
2022	Sundari Gardens	Victor Paul	Premiered on SonyLiv[14]
	Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu	Sridharan	Tamil film
	KA	Niranjan	Post production
	Ennile Villain	TBA	Filming
	Pathira Kurubana	TBA	Pre-production
	An Action Hero	TBA	Hindi movie

Web Series

Other works

As choreographer

As screenwriter

Discography

Awards and nominations

Asianet Film Awards

• 2018 – Won – Best Star Pair – Paippin Chuvattile Pranayam

Asiavision Awards

• 2015 – Won – New Sensation in Acting (Male) for performance in various movies[21]

North American Film Awards

• 2016 – Special mention by the jury for performance in various movies
• 2017 – Special mention by the jury for performance in Paippin Chuvattile Pranayam

References

External links

• Neeraj Madhav on Instagram
• Neeraj Madhav on Facebook
• Neeraj Madhav at IMDb