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He
can get in and out of different characters with astonishing
ease and brilliance. You can’t even recognize the actor
Jeeva as he disappears into various roles. Of how many actors
can we say that? Kamal remains Kamal however many roles he
takes on. But Jeeva becomes someone else as Katradu Tamil
showed us all. The remarkable thing is that he does this without
using all those Method acting techniques used by Hollywood
actors. Jeeva is a complete natural.
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“This
will be a stylish thriller like Race and Dhoom”
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You are being compared
to Kamal for doing offbeat roles.
I’m flattered
you compare me to Kamal. It’s just that I’m
willing to do any roles, not just offbeat ones. It
so happened that I was lucky to have a series of movies
with offbeat themes, starting with Raam, E, Katradu
Tamil and Rameswaram. These are movies I had committed
to two years go, and did not plan that they should
all be offbeat. I think Kamal chose to do offbeat,
I just stumbled into it. Now, for instance, in Thenavattu
and Siva Manasula Sakthi, I play jolly characters,
not intense ones. In Thenavattu I’m a happy
go lucky boy from Madurai, and in Siva Manasula Sakthi
I’m a middle class boy from Chennai. The movie
I’m preparing to do, Marainthirunthu Paarkum
Marmam Enna, will be very, very different. It will
be funky and high tech like those stylish Hindi thrillers
Race and Dhoom. Even at home they would often tease
me, saying, “hey, we always see you in a beard
lying next to a garbage dump! When are you going to
play funky characters wearing sun glasses and driving
smart cars?! So I decided, okay let’s do a movie
like that.
Director of the movie?
Ahmed- a new director.
Cinematographer is Arvind Krishna, and music is by
Yuvan.
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How does
Poonam Bajwa strike you?
Of all the
new faces in Tamil from the North, she has
impressed me the most. Sometimes with heroines
from there, you feel you can’t really
connect with them, but she’s easy to
interact with. Everyone on the crew likes
her. Young people will really take a fancy
to her. I think she has a great future in
Tamil cinema.
Which is
your favorite – Ram or Katradhu Tamil?
Both are exceptional
films, but since Ram came first, I feel sentimental
about it. However, I have not worked as hard
as I did for any movie the way I worked for
Katradhu Tamil. It’s my best performance.
Even though it didn’t do too well at
the box office, many praised it. Among viewers
there is so much debate on the Internet about
the movie. Many say: how could this film not
be appreciated?
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“Of
all the new Tamil
heroines, she has impressed
me the most.”
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Is Thenavattu about trans-gendered people?
In Thenavattu there is
a small part that has to do with the trans-gendered,
but no, the whole movie is not about them. What is different
is, usually movies make fun of them, but here we have
taken them seriously.
Are you thinking of
directing?
People have been saying
that I’m interested in directing an English movie,
but right now I’m so busy and involved as an actor,
I don’t have time. But if I direct it will be
something special, not just for the sake of it. But
my movie should be so good, that I will be compelled
to make it in English next. That’s my goal.
Are you planning to
do something with Jayam Ravi?
We were chatting at a
movie function and I said to him, why don’t we
do something different- along the lines of all those
glossy, stylish Hindi movies? We’ll have a bigger
audience. Both of our fans will be excited.
And he said, sure, let’s do it- I even have a
script ready! So I thought I could direct that. Not
right away. But next year, perhaps. Let’s see.
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“Jayam
Ravi and I plan to do a stylish movie together.
”
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Do movies
get more support from websites than print
media?
As far as I
know, we have a healthy relationship with
everyone.
Something
more about Marainthirunthu Paarkum Marmam
Enna?
I haven’t
even given a press meet on it yet. I’m
mentioning it first on Behindwoods, actually.
Other future projects are one by my banner
Super Good Films. We are planning a family
entertainer.
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Cinematographers
are becoming directors, directors are becoming actors.
There are no restrictions,
really. If a director acts, there is a reason. Perhaps
the script requires it. It’s a good thing, I think
if a director decides to act. He knows exactly what
he wants from a role, and he will bring that to the
screen perfectly. Since I’ve been doing offbeat
movies, people ask why I don’t do conventional
films. If I had been doing conventional films, people
will say, oh, why doesn’t he do offbeat movies?
People’s psyche is like that. There should be
no restrictions.
Will you stick only
to Tamil?
I’ve done Telugu
and Malayalam, but I don’t know them well as Tamil.
I’d like to learn these languages better and then
act more in other regions. For an actor to perform well,
he or she should know the language well.
Any message for our
viewers?
Enjoy life. Think of it
as an ice cream – relish it before it melts!
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