My quest for good stories will never end: Jayam Ravi

Chennai

Jayam Ravi’s 25th film Bhoomi’s trailer has clocked two million views in just within a week. The film in which the actor plays a NASA space scientist revolves around various social issues and is packed with powerful dialogues. “It wasn’t a conscious decision to have powerful dialogues in the trailer or the teaser to elevate my mass appeal. I have never done that as I believe in being a part of an engaging script. Of course, those dialogues could contribute to mass appeal but that isn’t what I look for,” he clarifies. One of the netizens had commented that Tamil and farmers issue are being used as tools to attract the audience in the state. We share that with the actor, who says, “For me, these are just perceptions and not facts. I don’t believe in such things when I commit myself to a story. Any message has to be told with 100 per cent conviction and the team of Bhoomi has worked hard in letting people know what modern day farming is and who our farmers are. Obviously, there have been films that have spoken about the farmers’ plight. Our film has different angle which will make it interesting.”

Ravi plays Bhoominathan, a space scientist in one half of the film. “He is a person, who wants to go back to his roots. When you see my previous films, the character graph keeps going up with the story, but is one-dimensional. A lot of mental application was required to go about this character,” he reveals. Produced by Home Movie Makers, and directed by Lakshman, Bhoomi will premiere on Disney+Hotstar on January 14. Though the film is produced under his home banner, Ravi says that he never involves in the business part of production. “I am bad at math. Moreover, I plunge into the creative side by discussing the scenes, the order, the dialogues and the process of making a good film. I don’t do things for the sake of it,” he says.

In the last few years, Jayam Ravi has dabbled across seasoned directors and new comers frequently. According to him, it is his pursuit of an actor who is lookout for good content. “My quest for good stories would never end. I wonder if any other hero would have agreed to do a film like Comali. I felt it had a message that’s worth telling people and I did. I shed a lot of weight to play a school boy because I believe that when an artiste does a painstaking job, the audience will support it,” he tells us.

In 2021, the actor will be seen in Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan and I Ahmed’s project. “Ahmed project has been tentatively titled Jana Gana Mana. Taapsee plays the heroine and we have completed over 50 per cent of it. Yuvan Shankar Raja has composed the music for the film produced by Passion Studios. I have also signed a three-film deal with Screen Scene Media Entertainment for which an announcement will be made,” he concludes.