Jayam Ravi

Ravi Mohan (born 10 September 1980), better known by his stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian film actor who works in the Tamil film industry. The son of film editor Mohan, Ravi made his debut as an actor in Jayam (2003) directed by his elder brother Mohan Raja. The success of the film prompted the title to become a prefix to his stagename, and he continued to collaborate with his brother consecutively for other successful films including M. Kumaran Son Of Mahalakshmi (2004), Unakkum Enakkum (2006) and Santhosh Subramaniam (2008).

Outside his home productions, Jayam Ravi experience success portraying a foreigner stuck in Russia in Jeeva's Dhaam Dhoom (2008) and as a tribal forest officer in Jananathan's Peranmai (2009). After a career lull in the early 2010s, Jayam Ravi received critical acclaim and commercial success for his work in his brother's Thani Oruvan (2015) and first ever zombie film in Tamil cinema, Miruthan (2016), where former he portrayed as an honest police officer and latter as a traffic policeman. Two of his other films in 2015 also performed well at the box office with the romantic comedy Romeo Juliet and Bhooloham, helping him make a comeback as one of the leading actors in the Tamil film industry.

Background

Ravi was born to Mohan of Tirumangalam, Madurai, a leading film editor in South Indian cinema, and Varalakshmi.^[2] He has two siblings; his elder brother Mohan Raja is a film director, with most of his films featuring Ravi in the lead role, while his sister Roja is a dentist. He completed his schooling at Jawahar Vidyalaya in Ashok Nagar, Chennai. He studied dancing under the Bharatnatyam dancer Nalini Balakrishnan and performed his arangetram at the age of 12. After completing his degree in Visual Communication from Loyola College, Chennai, he decided to get into the film industry. He also then trained in acting at the Kishore Namit Kapur Institute in Mumbai.^[3][4] Before debuting as an actor, Ravi had been an assistant director to Suresh Krishna for Aalavandhan (2001) starring Kamal Haasan.

Film career

2003-2008

During his childhood, Ravi acted as a child actor in two Telugu films, Bava Bavamaridi and Palnati Pourusham, which were produced by his father.^[5] Jayam Ravi made his acting debut in the action-masala film Jayam, produced by his father and directed by his brother Mohan Raja. It was a remake of the 2002 Telugu film of the same name. His next venture was the sentimental drama M. Kumaran Son Of Mahalakshmi (2004), the remade version of the Telugu film Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi, in which he starred alongside Asin Thottumkal. Ravi's performance was widely positively received; a critic from Sify wrote that he delivered a performance that "makes you want to see more of him"^[6] while The Hindu's Malathi Rangarajan cited that he came out with an "appreciable portrayal throughout."^[7] The film, considered a family entertainer, received the Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Film and fetched Ravi himself the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.^[8] It also emerged a high financial success.^[9]

His next release, Daas (2004), another action-masala flick,^[10] and his first original film following two remakes,^[11] featured him as a football player.^[12] The film took an even bigger opening than his previous ones and was declared a hit as well.^[13] He garnered positive remarks from critics, with Sify's reviewer claiming that Ravi was "hundred percent convincing as an action hero," further labelling his performance as "impressive."^[14] Mazhai, a remake of the Telugu film Varsham, was his other release that year, which was "lukewarm" at the box office.^[15] In 2006 he starred in Saran's Idhaya Thirudan, which was a box office bomb,^[16][17] following which he acted in Unakkum Enakkum (initially released and promoted as Something Something Unakkum Enakkum), again under his brother's direction in another remake of a Telugu film. Ravi portrayed a rich, happy-go-lucky NRI from London, who has to live and fight for his love in dire conditions in a rural milieu.^[18] The film, which featured Trisha Krishnan alongside Ravi, became a high critical as well as financial success,^[19] emerging one of the highest-grossing and most-profitable films of the year.^[20][21] The N. Linguswamy-produced Deepavali under Ezhil's direction became his only 2007 release.

In 2008, Ravi appeared in three films. Following a cameo appearance in Velli Thirai, he acted in the family drama Santhosh Subramaniam, once again under his brother's direction in a remake. In the Tamil version of the 2006 Telugu film Bommarillu, starring opposite Genelia D'Souza, he played the role of a young man, whose choices and wishes are continually subdued by his father's.^[22][23] Ravi received a nomination for the Best Tamil Actor Award at the 56th Filmfare Awards South.^[24] Next he starred in the action thriller Dhaam Dhoom, directed by cinematographer-director Jeeva, who died in the midst of the film's shooting in Russia.^[25] Completed by Jeeva's assistant Manikandan, his wife Aneez Tanveer and his guru P. C. Sreeram,^[26] Dhaam Dhoom released in mid-2008 in which he portrayed Gautham Subramaniyam, a man accused in a murder he did not commit.^[27] His performance was met with favourable reviews from critics, with Sify's reviewer writing that he was "simply amazing in his role", labelling the film as an "out and out Jayam Ravi movie",^[27] while Indiaglitz noted that Ravi was "probably the perfect choice to play the character".^[28]

2009-2015

In 2009, he starred in the action film Peranmai, directed by S. P. Jananathan, in which he enacted the role of Dhruvan, a tribal forest officer. In his next film, Thillalangadi (2010), he paired up with his brother for the fifth time to appear in a remake of a Telugu work. Thillalangadi, the Tamil version of the 2009 film Kick, opened to average grosser and could not repeat the success of its original version. In 2011, he played a playboy character in choreographer-turned-director Prabhu Deva's romantic musical Engeyum Kaadhal, which also fetched mixed reviews. In 2015 Ravi appeared in four films: Romeo Juliet, Sakalakala Vallavan, Thani Oruvan, and Bhooloham.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Awards and honours

References

External links

• Jayam Ravi on Facebook
• Jayam Ravi on Twitter
  
• Jayam Ravi at the Internet Movie Database