My weekends are for music and not clubbing: Jai

Eighteen years after making his debut in acting with Bhagavathi, Jai has forayed into the digital medium with Triples that recently premiered on Disney+Hotstar. Directed by Charukesh, the series is produced by Karthik Subbaraj under his banner Stone Bench. The actor admits he had no qualms after enjoying successful box-office openings and stardom. “It is the story and the performance that matters and not the medium is what I firmly believe in.

We shot for Triples before the lockdown and shutting down of theatres. Moreover, I had four films lined up for theatrical release and I wanted to give it a shot in the digital medium as well. Many colleagues have ventured into OTT this lockdown. I had it in me even before that. Entertain pannanum nu mudivu pannita epdi venaalum panalam (If one decides to entertain, the medium doesn’t matter),” he smiles.

Triples is another comic caper, a genre that is a cakewalk for Jai. “Making people smile is the most difficult thing. If I crack a joke in a group of five, only two laugh. Especially, with a person like Premgi around, who keeps a straight face for what I think is a good joke, it’s a challenge. Personally, it’s my favourite genre.

When a director narrates it and we find it humourous, it is guaranteed that the audience too will enjoy it. That is what has happened with each of my comedy films. We laughed so much when we did the ‘Towel Go’ scene in Goa and people liked it too.

Similarly, Triples had scenes where we laughed almost every time when Charukesh narrated it. We need to know the depth of the humour,” the actor explains. “For Triples, we went by the director’s plans. I did not intervene and my character of Ram is a sweet guy, who runs a coffee shop. There is a specific scene where I wasn’t supposed to do something and I still do it and land in trouble. It was very much my persona off-camera,” he adds.

Jai says that despite the absence of censorship in OTT platforms, he knows his limitations well.

“Having seen me on the big screen for years, the audience looks at me as one of their family members. I cannot go all out just because there is no CBFC intervention for OTT content. Moreover, my directors know what my fan base is,” says the actor. Since the release of the teaser of Triples, people have been comparing his looks to Vijay. “Even SAC sir told me that my looks and mannerisms Vijay anna, which is a disadvantage in cinema. Though there are resemblances, I make it a point not to be his on-screen alter ego. I was with him for 10 days prior to the Bhagavathi shoot and that is when I picked up his mannerisms. Few things stuck to me deep within and I couldn’t let them go. Hence, I decided to change my voice, grow a beard to not resemble him,” Jai opens up.

The actor, a Grade 5 music graduate from Trinity College of London is now a busy composer as well. “I officially composed my first song for Triples and then Susienthiran’s film. He then asked me to work on the film’s music too. It’s a different ball game altogether and he made me pull it off. From now on, you would see me as a composer for various films. So if I shoot on weekdays, I would dedicate my weekends to music and not go clubbing like others. It’s been 10 years now,” he quips and concludes.