Stunt Silva

Stunt Silva is an Indian stunt actor, action director and stunt co-ordinator who has worked in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Nepali, Hindi films. He made his debut with the 2005 Telugu film Chatrapathi, directed by S. S. Rajamouli and has since also made appearances in films, portraying a supporting antagonist. After training as a nurse at Stanley Medical College, Silva began working as a male nurse at hospitals in his home town of Tuticorin before joining Vijaya Health Centre in Chennai in 1990. He also pursued work as a peon in offices and dabbled in a transport business to keep a float financially. In 2002, he met a dance choreographer from the film industry who advised him to sign up as a background dancer in films. He took up dance lessons at Paul Raj's school but was unable to gain access into the dancers' union and instead, as a means of making any sort of money, opted to apply for membership with the union for stuntmen. Silva then began working as an assistant to stunt choreographer Peter Hein in Run (2002) and Thirumalai (2003), and choose to leave his hospital ward boy duties. During his time as an assistant, (2005) he helped Rajinikanth perform stunts in Sivaji (2007). After serving as an assistant fighter in several Tamil and Telugu films, director S. S. Rajamouli gave Silva an opportunity to work as the stunt director of his fantasy film Yamadonga (2007), for which his work won critical acclaim. He has since gone on to work in over one hundred Indian films as the lead stunt director, working with leading directors and actors.