Reporting by Janani K; Photos by Dani Charles. Photos from the press meet are below the report.
For Jayam Ravi, 2015 has been a very successful year with all his four films doing well, Romeo Juliet, Sakalakalavallavan, Thani Oruvan, and Bhooloham. At the beginning of the year, his goal had been to release at least three films. He said, “God has been so kind to me and he gave me one more film than I intended.” The press meet felt like a Jayam Ravi family meet, with Ravi and Raja’s parents and spouses present.
Jayam Ravi’s father, editor Mohan, is a happy man. His sons Raja and Ravi delivered the sleeper hit, Thani Oruvan, which catapulted them to a different league. Mohan said, “I have always told my children to put in full-fledged work, whatever project they choose. Ravi always surrenders himself to the characters he portrays on screen. Not much more to say about Romeo Juliet and Thani Oruvan’s successes. But Bhooloham’s positive response was a total surprise for to all of us. Director Kalyankrishnan gave Jayam Ravi a well-rounded character. We are grateful for the success our family has had this year.”
Actor Jayam Ravi can be deservedly crowned as one of the most successful actors of 2015. But in 2014, he had been forced to keep a low profile. He featured neither on TV channels, nor on web portals. It saddened him. But, now, he’s positive. “My brother Raja has included my father’s name Mohan before his name. I have included ‘Jayam’ as my first name. Both mean the same to us – success. This year is fulfilling and I don’t need anything else in my life. I’m not talking about success. I’m talking about the people who have struggled to push me,” he said.
Mohan Raja reminisced, “It’s been 12 years since we made Jayam. Ever since its release, we have seen 12 kinds of different lifestyles. 12 kind of respect, 12 kind of successes, 12 kind of failures. 2015 is a perfect gift for the struggles we faced. I am happy that the tag ‘Jayam Ravi will win with his brother’s intelligence’ has finally disappeared. I don’t understand why people say that because he picked up stories like Peranmai, M Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi. Ravi told me that he was waiting to talk about me at the Thani Oruvan success meet. Now, I am glad to talk about my brother. He doesn’t need my assistance. But we [Raja and his father] have stood behind him. For 60 years, my father believed in one fact, ‘A film’s storyline is the hero’ and we understood that.”
