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‘It is time I returned to my Subramaniapuram days’

Express News Service

The reticent Jai, who had stayed away from public appearances, broke his self-imposed media quarantine, during the promotions of his recent Hotstar web series, Triples. The actor refuses that his break from film promotions was a planned activity. “I just did not want to misguide my audience by promoting a bad film of mine. In recent years, I realized while dubbing for a few of my projects that the quality wasn’t up to the mark and I could not bring myself to lie about such films. This led to my sabbatical from public appearances.”

He adds that a team must own its flop films as it does a blockbuster. “A film is a result of collective work and can fail due to various reasons. It would be unfair to solely blame its hero, when a film fails.” The actor notes that OTT releases, unlike feature films, are not a burden on audiences’ affordability. “I liked working on Triples and am happy with the results. Also, it is an OTT release. If the audience dislikes our work, they are free to switch to another content.

So, I don’t feel any guilt in promoting OTT releases.” He adds, rather cautiously, that he hasn’t yet made up his mind about promoting his upcoming theatre releases. “I have become more responsible now. I will promote my theatre releases again, but only when I feel that the audience has reason to love them.” Strangely, much of his recent work, from Neeya 2 and Capmaari to Triples, have had him playing a male lead caught in the tangle of romance between multiple women.

“I didn’t even realise this until now,” he says, laughing. “I’m the sort of actor who struggles to romance even a singl e heroine… So, no, this definitely wasn’t a plan or anything.” He says that his upcoming lineup of projects will be quite unlike what we have seen so far, and is aimed at shedding his ‘timid, good guy’ image. “It hit me only recently that all my characters have been softspoken and without too many shades. I am looking forward to playing characters with grey shade characters and hope to sport different looks for upcoming films to break this mould.

In fact, in one of my upcoming films, I will be playing my first full-fledged negative character.” The actor gets visibly excited, when hinting at an upcoming project of his in which he says he will be joining hands with one of his hit directors. “I can’t reveal too much about it yet, but I can say that this film will be my answer to those who have been asking me to work on films like Subramaniapuram again.” This ‘experimental line-up’, Jai attributes to his realisation that an actor shouldn’t be restricted by language, genre, or comfort zone.

“Though I made my Malayalam debut with Madhura Raja and recently, my digital debut with Triples, both roles were still within my comfort areas. I want to push my boundaries a bit more next year and will likely make my Telugu debut as well. It will be a direct Telugu film that will suit regional sensibilities.” Jai feels that the way to leave a long-lasting impression on the audience is to regularly feature in comedies. “My comedy scenes from Goa are still being fondly recalled.

But I have missed out on this during the past decade. Though my films have been lighthearted, they have not had memorable comic sequences. This hit me last year, and Triples is an attempt to fill this void.” Jai began his journey in cinema as a keyboard player for composer Deva, his uncle, before getting opportunities to make his mark as an actor. The actor, who is making his debut as a composer with his upcoming Shiva Shivaa, directed by Susienthiran, has also done music for a single titled Uyir Unnodu Serumo in Triples.

Questioned if the musician in him has ever helped the actor, he says, “Definitely! I would have had a tougher t ime g rooming myself as an actor if not for this. My experience there helps me catch the tempo for songs and dance without strain. I am also not one to use glycerine for emotional scenes. I listen to pathos music instead to get into the mood. My origins as a musician has proved to be a huge blessing.”

I am looking forward to playing characters with grey shade characters and hope to sport different looks for upcoming films to break this mould. in one of my upcoming films, I will be playing my first full-fledged negative character

Source: The New Indian Express