By dawn he plays a lover boy in Gautam Vasudev Menon’s Neethaane En Ponvasandham . At dusk, he dons his superhero suit for Mysskin’s Mugamoodi — that’s been actor Jiiva’s life for some time now. Now, add to it the part of a stylish rock star for Bijoy Shaitan Nambiar’s David . Jiiva is loving this phase of his life. “I’ve not had a film release for seven to eight months. But, I’ve been working so much. It feels good to be doing so many different roles,” he says.
The actor, who has hit a purple patch in his career, is also doing Ahmed’s Endrendrum Punnagai with Trisha. He’s also signed up for cinematographer Ravi K. Chandran’s directorial debut and the next film of S.P. Jananathan, with whom he worked in E .
Amazing experience
But, right now, the buzz is all about Mugamoodi, slated for release in August. He plays a superhero in it and the actor’s worked hard on his look and stunts. “ Mugamoodi has been an amazing experience. But, every time I wore the body suit, I would wonder when I could take it off. It was great working with Mysskin. There was a comfort level. I’ll always remember the rigorous martial arts training and working with instructor Tony Leung Siu Hung.”
As we speak, Jiiva’s boarding a flight to Mumbai to work in the bilingual David , co-starring Vikram. How easy has it been to juggle so many characters? “I guess after 10 years as an actor, one gets used to it. Thankfully, none of them is an intense character; so, it’s been pretty easy to compartmentalise. It’s nice to keep moving on…”
What has the David experience been like? “Superb. It’s a youthful team and is full of the Bollywood crowd. For the first time, I’m shooting in sync sound. That was a surprise. My character is that of a guitarist. Luckily, I’ve always been into music. I love rock and learnt Carnatic vocal for three years. But, what you see on screen will be the director’s vision. I loved Bijoy’s narration. It was so well-crafted.”
Endrendrum… has already been launched and Jiiva says it’s a youthful film. “It’s a fun trip like Dil Chahta Hai or Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara . Ravi K. Chandran’s film, he says, will take him to another audience. “We are in talks and he is planning a trilingual — Telugu, Tamil and Hindi,” he says.
As for Jananathan’s film co-starring “dear friend” Jayam Ravi, he says they will shortly firm up discussions. “I’m looking forward to working with Ravi. And the director’s a well-wisher who gave me a great role in E .”
How about his heroines? “Samantha ( Neethaane ) is a professional and very dependable. Pooja Hegde ( Mugamoodi ) is all energy, and I’m looking forward to working with Trisha — our first film together.”
Speaking about Neethaane…, Jiiva says Varun Krishnan’s character exudes class and style. “I loved the way Gautam has delineated the character. Girls will love Varun. And I’m sure my wife Supriya will have problems with it,” he laughs. She’ll, however, have no such issues with his biggest fan — son Sparsha, all of 20 months. “He reacts to my songs. His favourite? ‘Ennamo Etho…’ He’s been listening to it since he was a baby.”
Jiiva has worked out a lot to turn into a poster boy for Neethaane and looks young and dashing. “Probably, it has to do with the fact that my star sign is Capricorn. We continue to look young long after we are not!” On a serious note, he says, “It’s because I’m stress-free, my career is established and I’m happy on the home front… that shows on my face. Yes, working out, drinking lots of water and dieting have helped too.”
Dieting must be difficult, especially when he runs a restaurant (One MB), right? “Ah yes. I’m such a foodie and I’m really hungry now with all the dieting. My friend Ajay and Supriya look after the place. We’re doing well and are shortly starting a second outlet in Chennai,” he says.
