Contestant No 1: Rio Raj Fantin Rio Raj, is from Erode in Tamil Nadu and first became popular as a TV anchor. He has acted in many TV shows including Kana Kaanum Kaalangal - Kaloori Saalai.
Rio's big break was playing the lead in the TV soap Saravanan Meenatchi. The show ran for 7 years and was one of the longest running tv serials in Tamil.
Rio has also hosted shows like Suda Suda Chennai and Kaloori Kalam and had been a finalist in dance reality show Jodi Number One season 9.
Rio made his movie debut with Sathriyan, where he played Vikram Prabhu's friend. His break came in 2019 when he played the lead in Nenjamundu Nermaiyundu Odu Raja, produced by Sivakarthikeyan.
Rio is married to dance and artist Sruthi Ravi and the couple have a baby girl Rithi.
Rio is awaiting the release of his next film, Plan Panni Pannanum, which had been delayed because of the Covid pandemic.
Contestant No 2: Sanam Shetty Sanam is a film actress, who works in South Indian movies and a model. She is the titleholder of Miss South India 2016.
Initially a first runner-up, Sanam became Miss South India 2016 after the previous title holder Meera Mithun was revoked of the title due to fraudulent activities.
Sanam has been a popular name in South modeling circuit, having endorsed most of the reputed textiles and Jewellery brands. She is the face of Preethi Kitchenware company for the past 2 years.
She used to work with Tata Consultancy Services as a Software Engineer before she stepped into the film industry.
She was earlier in a relationship with, and was engaged to sensational Bigg Boss 3 participant Tharshan.
Sanam's first film was Ambuli, an experimental film, which was also the first stereoscopic Tamil film, with actor-director R Parthiepan, after which she did Cinema Company in Malayalam.
Sanam was also seen in films like Sawaari, Vellaya Irukkaravan Poi Solla Maataan, which featured her as an NRI wife, and Srimanthudu, her big project in Telugu.
Contestant No 3: Rekha Veteran actress and host Kamal Haasan's Punnagai Mannan co-star.
Born as Sumathi Josephine, Rekha hails from Eramalloor, Alappuzha and became a leading actress in South Indian movies during the decade from 1986 to 1996.
Rekha married George Hapis, a seafood exporter in 1996. The couple has a daughter Anusha born in 1998.
Rekha has been a part of several landmark films like Guna, En Bommukutty Ammavukku and Kadalora Kavithaigal. She was last seen in GV Prakash's 100% Kadhal and Santhanam's Dagaalty.
Recently, she was in the news for speaking about her controversial ‘Punnagai Mannan’ kiss with Kamal Haasan, how it happened without her consent, and how she feels about it now.
Contestant No 4: Bala alias Balaji Murugadoss Fitness freak who has won several awards in national and international bodybuilding.
Balaji, who won the title ‘Mr. International India 2018’, was born in Theni and was brought up in chennai.
Bala was to make his film debut as the villain in the long-delayed RK Suresh-starrer, Tyson.
Contestant no 5: Anitha Sampath Anitha is a news anchor who has also hosted many shows including Vikatan awards and Hello Tamizha.
Anita has been reading news on Sun News channel for years now.
Anitha Sampath has acted as a journalist in films including Gala, 2.0, Kaappan, Aditya Verma and Danny.
She also runs a popular YouTube vlog in which she shares tips on makeup, travel, etc. She is an active social media user and speaks on many issues.
Recently, she had professed support to actor Kangana Ranaut after the latter's office was demolished in Mumbai.
Contestant No 6: Shivani Narayanan Shivani is a model-turned-actor and social media influencer, whose first acting project was 2016 Tamil-language soap Pagal Nilavu.
Aged 19, Shivani, who is also a trained dancer, would be the youngest contestant of this season.
Shivani is the only child of her parents, Akila and Narayanan.
Shivani started off as a model at a very young age and went on to become a known name in the advertising circuit.
Saravanan Meenatchi Season 3 show marked the TV debut of Shivani. Later, she acted in the shows ‘Kadaikutty Singam’ (as Meenakshi) for a brief period and ‘Rettai Roja’ (as Abhirami and Anuradha).
Contestant No 7: Jithan Ramesh Actor and son of film producer RB Choudary. He is Jiiva's elder brother and has acted in many movies like Jithan.
He attended Gill Adarsh Higher Secondary School in Royapettah, Chennai and he completed his Business Administration degree from D.G. Vaishnav College.
Ramesh married Shilpa in February 2006 and their daughter Toshna was born in January 2007.
Contestant No 8: Velmurugan Popular folk singer who has sung the popular 'Otha Sollaala' in GV Prakash's music in Dhanush's starrer Aadukalam.
He shot to fame with folk songs like Madura in Subramaniapuram and Aadungada in Naadodigal
Velmurugan considers being called by James Vasanthan as one of the turning points in his life
Contestant No 9: Aari Aari Arjuna made his feature film debut in Rettaisuzhi produced by director Shankar, before having a breakthrough performance as Murugan in Nedunchaalai.
Aari has also played a pivotal role in the supernatural thriller Maya (2015)
Aari, before entering films, had a strong background in theatre. He had also worked as a fitness trainer for actors. He supports organic farming.
Contestant No 10: Somasekhar A practicing mixed martial artist who is trying to make it big in show business.
Soma Sekhar started his career in modeling and made his first debut with the Tv Show, Azhagiya Tamil Magan on Vijay Tv in 2010 and has acted in more than 100+ ad commercials.
Contestant No 11: Gabriella Charlton Former child artist in Tamil movies. She made her first appearance on a TV show in a reality dance program.
Gabriella also won the title Jodi No season 6. She also appeared as Gaby in 7aam Vaguppu C Pirivu, a Tamil school opera aired in STAR Vijay.
She made her acting debut with Dhanush's romantic – psychological thriller 3, playing the role Shruti Haasan's sister Sumi.
She also appeared in Samuthirakani's recent movie Appa, in the role of Rashitha Bhanu.
Contestant No 12: Aranthangi Nisha Nisha is a Tamil standup comedian who once took part in Vijay TV's 'Kalakka Povathu Yaaru'.
Born at Aranthangi, she has 2 children, her husband Riaz Ali is a junior tradesman in Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation.
She made her movie debut in 2018 with the movie, Kalakalappu 2, directed by Sundar C. She has played comic roles in Irumbu Thirai, Maari 2, Kolamavu Kokila, and Aan Devathai.
Contestant No 13: Ramya Pandian Actress who got accolades for her realistic act as the female lead in the political satire, Joker.
Ramya, who was born at Tirunelveli, Tamilnadu, studied biomedical engineering at Anna University and started working as a research and development analyst before making her film debut.
Ramya's uncle is actor Arun Pandian, who works in Tamil-language films.
Contestant No 14: Samyuktha Karthik Actress, model, nutritionist, dance instructor, and entrepreneur.
A social media influencer, she made her silver screen debut with the Malayalam movie Olu.
Samyuktha’s claim to fame was her appearance in the Radikaa Sarathkumar’s show ‘Chandrakumari’ (as princess Rudhra).
Samyuktha is a graduate in Civil engineering. During her early days, she did a corporate job for a few years before venturing into the showbiz world.
Contestant No 15: Suresh Chakravarthy - Multifaceted actor and director in the big screen as well as the small screen, who made his acting debut with K Balachander's Azhgan starring Mammooty.
Apart from this, he is also a popular chef who owns a cookery YouTube channel too. His Instagram is filled with delicious and lip-smacking recipes.
Contestant No 16: Aajeedh Khalique - Singer, winner of Vijay TV's Super Singer 3.
He has also sung few songs like Enakkondrum Vaanveli, Angry birds of the movie Poovarasam Peepee.
With such a diverse list of candidates, this season of Bigg Boss Tamil (100 days) will be exciting, to say the least.
An important rule is in place this time, apart from the usual ones. Partial lockdown is in order — One bedroom, one toilet, one bathroom and two stoves will be shut for operation.
So... all 16 are inside the #BiggBossTamil4 house! Locked, loaded and ready to go! 100 days. Unlimited entertainment. And as #KamalHaasan often explains, Unlimited lessons too...
