His tinseltown connection started with the Dhanush-Shruti starrer 3 , in which he played the heroine’s dad. And 2014 has been really big for character artist Jeeva Ravi, who has a number of movies up his sleeve.
He’s waiting for Jeeva to hit screens this week. That’s because he plays a cricket coach in this Vishnu-starrer which is a sports-based flick. Interestingly, Ravi is a cricketer in real life too. After representing the state in the under-19 category, he has also been part of other cricket camps. “Playing a coach was interesting,” he says, adding, “The fact that most of the actors in the film (Vishnu and Lakshman, among others) have also played cricket at a professional level helped.”
With the director’s earlier film Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu ( VKK ) showcasing a coach (played by Kishore), how different will this one be? “The character of the coach in Jeeva is very different. He plays an important role in motivating the boys to take up the game seriously. I’m very thankful to Suseenthiran sir for having cast me in this crucial role.”
Interestingly, Soori, the comedian, who shot to fame thanks to the parotta scene in VKK , also plays a cricketer in this movie. And it was Ravi who was entrusted the job of making him learn the game. “That was an interesting experience,” he smiles, “But Soori did pick up the nuances of the game in three days and that shows on screen.”
While Ravi plays a collector in Vijay’s Kaththi , he will don the role of a collector in Taana . He also has important roles in Magizh Thirumeni’s Meaghamann and director Vijay’s next film with Vikram Prabhu.
