I have hit a minor roadblock but certainly not a dead end: Jayam Ravi

CHENNAI: Wearing a striped t-shirt and green joggers, Jayam Ravi walks in and greets us. Before we could ask him anything, with a laugh he says, “I am allergic to dust, and caught a flu. Which is why I am sporting this bearded look. Else I am doing great.”

He is simultaneously finalising a few things for the audio launch and teaser unveiling of his upcoming film Brother that is taking place in Chennai on Saturday. “Director Rajesh is like a family. He is close to my brother Raja and has a lot of respect for my father as well. He has been a part of a few of our story discussions. When I heard Brother’s script, I told Rajesh to reserve the script for me. We set out to make a comical entertainer but there are a lot of emotions to it,” he remarks.

Ravi says that all of Rajesh’s previous films have been strong on emotions. “Siva Manasula Sakthi talks about two egotists in a relationship, Boss Engira Baskaran is about a guy, who is persistent in what he is. Brother is about a brother-sister relationship. Bhumika Chawla plays my sister in the film and I immediately connected with the script because my elder sister Roja and I shared a similar bond. Coming back to the film, I play a law student, who believes who weighs the right and wrong in the society and goes by the law book. His sister tries to change the way he looks at it. This strong story is backed by a stellar cast like VTV Ganesh, who is aspiring to be the next Sid Sriram, Natty Subramaniam plays my brother-in-law, and Priyanka Mohan, plays a school teacher,” elaborates Ravi.

Recently, he opted out of Mani Ratnam’s Thug Life citing date reasons. “I told him about it and he agreed. It was all smooth and there was no bitterness. I was shooting across schedules for Genie. We have completed the shoot and CG portions are now being taken care of in post-production. Then there is Kaadhalika Neramillai by Kiruthiga Udhayanidhi. That film is about mature love. Then another couple of producers in talks and my next film too will be for Brother producer Screen Scene Media Entertainment. We will be immediately starting that film,” says the actor.

Jayam Ravi is not a movie personality, who makes headlines for wrong reasons. While his separation news came across as a shocker to many, the speculations surrounding his marriage and other linkup rumours have become a talking point lately. “Okay. Just because you brought this up, let me break this down to you,” he gets to a comfortable position on his couch. “When people try to bring down the image that I have earned over the years through my hardwork and choice of scripts, I could only manage to laugh. It is not easy to malign my name. If you think that the entire thing unfolded with the announcement episode, it did not,” he reveals.

Ravi says that he had approached the court at least a few months before the announcement was made. “I sent a notice through my lawyer and Aarti’s dad acknowledged it. En veetla en appa amma laam vechu dhaan pesinaanga (The issue was discussed at our place with my parents and Aarti’s parents too). How could they say I wasn't accessible?”

He gets into detail and even tells us about his whereabouts in the recent past. “Aarav’s birthday was in June and I was here in Chennai, with him to celebrate. There are pictures from the birthday celebration as well. They say my car was seen in different cities on different dates. I have all the rights to take my car wherever I want to. After all, I bought it with my hard earned money. Also, I have had an open conversation about the issue with Aarav as Ayaan is too young to understand such things. Aarav obviously wants us to stick together,” says Ravi.

There were linkup rumours of Ravi with a singer-spiritual healer, who is based in Bengaluru. “Dragging names is not on. I know the person because I wanted to open a spiritual centre. The person whose name is doing the rounds on the internet is a trained psychologist, who has gotten several people out of depression. This is not on. I have certainly hit a roadblock in my life but not a dead end,” he says in an authoritative tone.

Several people have also speculated how Aarti’s mother pointed out that the actor’s business in the industry is not proportionate to the salary he demands, which could have also led to tensions between him and Aarti. “There have been several talking points on my separation. Decent people have approached my issue with some dignity and indecent people have not maintained any diplomacy in this. However, coming to my business, I have proof and I am ready to prove anything in the court. The day the truth is revealed, a few people should be ready to take the flak for accusing me,” states Jayam Ravi.