Experimenting with zombie genre

Ever since Thani Oruvan turned out to be a massive hit, there has been no stopping Jayam Ravi. He has got an enviable line-up of films for 2016, each as different as chalk and cheese. He will be seen in the upcoming film Miruthan which is slated for release on February 19.

In Kochi for the promotion of this film, the soft-spoken Ravi took time out to talk to DC about his career and life.

Miruthan is a film that belongs to a genre less-trodden in Tamil — the zombie category. Ravi is very upbeat about the film.

"Though the zombie genre is a Western concept, the emotions in the film are very Indian and deals with romance, sibling love and friendship with a touch of comedy. What I found different about Miruthan is that most films in India do not touch on the man-snature conflict; this film looks at what happens if nature decides to turn against humans for the problems they create like pollution, deforestation etc. That is a new concept which I am looking forward to."

There was a time when Ravi used to do only one film a year, but lately he has multiple releases in a year. He elaborates, “I realised that you need multiple releases to stay visible or else people tend to forget an actor. It is only when you shine that you are called a star. I took the opinions of my fans in a very positive way and decided to do more films.”

Ravi says that the script of a film is very important. “I can even wait for a year at home rather than doing a bad script; this year I was lucky in getting four good scripts.”

Ravi’s visibility extends to his social media interactions too. He is very active on Twitter about which he says, “Thanks to my wife Aarti; she claims that I am an anti-social person. I know that I am very reserved but I realised that being an actor you have to be responsible to your fans. Being a Visual Communications student, I know the power of the social media.”

He is consciously shrugging of being typecast in any single genre and is experimenting. When in Kerala, Ravi cannot escape the inevitable question of when he would be seen in a Mollywood film.

He answers, “Malayalam films have been a part of my life because my father used to remake a lot of them into Telugu and Tamil. I used to watch films of Nedumudi Venu, Mammooty, Mohanlal and Sreenivasan and I can understand Malayalam though I cannot speak it. I have been acting with Jayaram, Nadia Moidu, Asin and Nayanthara and now with Lakshmi Menon in Miruthan. What I love about the industry is that the school of Malayalam is very natural; there is no overacting and it was a learning experience. I want to do one film in Malayalam.”

Ravi has also been visiting the Sabarimala temple for the past two years and it has been the culmination of a childhood wish. He adds, “When Jayaram and I were working together, I had mentioned my wish to him and he had promised to accompany me. Eight years later, I reminded him of it and he kept his promise. I went this year too; it’s a great feeling.”

No doubt, the gods are showering their blessings on him. Ravi is very welcoming of the new wave of directors, actors and scriptwriters in Tamil adding that it is infusing new blood and creative ideas to make the industry healthier. The added competition also helps actors bring out their best. He adds, “Be it low or high budget, new thoughts should flow into the industry.”

He also reveals, “Being a media student, I want to direct a film but need to train myself first in all aspects of a film since it is not easy being the Captain of the ship! I am writing some scripts and will direct eventually.” Incidentally, his brother is the director of Thani Oruvan.

Enough of films, talking of his passions outside of films, Ravi loves to dance mentioning that dancing is his way of celebrating life. He adds, “There is something called terrace cricket which is played on my friend’s terraces with one pitch. I have my school friends with whom I play snooker, table tennis, badminton etc all on the terrace. I love playing shuttle and I am the Captain of Celebrity Badminton League. Outside of these I watch films.”