BENGALURU: Ravindra Vijay is on a roll this month with the Tamil web series Brinda, starring Trisha Krishnan; and now Raghu Thatha, starring Keerthy Suresh. Despite both his roles being completely different from each other, Vijay is convincing in both.
In Raghu Thatha, he plays the character of Selvan, who is paired with Suresh’s character. “This layered character is representative of the patriarchy surrounding us. He is a two-faced character, who pretends to be a progressive feminist until his true colours are revealed. It was fun to dive into the character for this role,” says Vijay.
Considering most of his scenes were with Suresh, Vijay is in awe of his National Award-winning co-star. “My character was supported by a brilliant actor like Keerthy. She is already an established star but working with her was a smooth ride.While many things were written in the script, we did improvise on the go. If a scene is too structured or planned, it will show in the making. We had scope to play with the script which we did,” says Vijay about the movie, which he describes as a project made with a group of close-knit friends.
The movie is written and directed by Suman Kumar, with whom he had first worked in the popular Hindi web series The Family Man, starring Manoj Bajpayee. However, Vijay reveals that his connection with Kumar goes back much further. “I went to Bangalore Medical College and his wife Chitra was my senior. I somehow got along well with Suman. We have gone to most watering holes in the city,” he says, adding that they frequent Pecos the most.
Working with friends can be a tricky affair. Agrees, Vijay. “There is fun, banter and joy but there are also tense moments; you know exactly how your friend will respond. It is walking a thin line at times; like an elastic. Sometimes, he pushes and I pull, making sure nothing snaps,” says Vijay cautiously.
Having largely been part of various South Indian movies, Vijay expresses his discomfort about it being attributed to regional cinema. “When people refer to Hindi cinema, it is mostly Bollywood. If you take a movie that is not rooted in Indian stories and call it global Indian cinema, I don’t agree with that.
For example, we have seen how successful a film like Kantara has been. Movies which tell a human story effectively would reach any audience in the world,” says Vijay, who has also been part of movies like Jawan. “We tend to label things for commodification,” says Vijay, who is currently shooting for a Tamil web series.