Chennai

On a quiet bylane off the East Coast Road, we enter Sparsh, the name of Jiiva’s residence. It is named after his seven-year old son. However, the tranquillity fades away once we enter the house as naughty little Sparsh, accompanied by his friend Adhvaith, is bringing the roof down as they bond over video games. Jiiva, wearing a silk shirt and veshti, with his wife Supriya, dressed in a silk saree, gives us a warm welcome. “Please give me five minutes. I need to convince Sparsh to spare some time off his video game,” says Jiiva as Supriya gets things ready for Pongal celebrations at home. Jiiva then takes us to the pooja room, decorated with pots and sugarcane. As we see the idols of gods, Supriya says, Lord Ganesh is Sparsh’s favourite and he gets excited ahead of Vinayaka Chathurthi or any other festival as he loves decorating the Ganesha pictures at home.”

We ask if Jiiva helps her out during festivals or leaves home early in the morning to catch up with the first day first show of his favourite actors’ films or even his films, she says, “He is very particular about celebrating festivals. Be it Pongal or Deepavali, he makes it a point that the arrangements are made. Even if he leaves home at six in the morning, he wakes up at three and helps me out in arranging things. So, no complaints.”

Jiiva, who has entered his 15th year in films this year, surprisingly has had no Pongal releases till date. “All the more reason for me to be with my family every Pongal. Else, I need to go and check the returns that my movie has made on the opening day and visit theatres across the city. I have only had Deepavali releases,” he says.

Talking about the family’s plans for Pongal, Jiiva says, “It’s going to be a ‘chill out’ day. You know what, Sparsh will be the one making Pongal for us this year.” Sparsh smiles at his dad before he asks if he can join his friend Adhvaith again to play video game. Jiiva gives him the nod and Sparsh flees the place. Jiiva continues, “I wonder if he will let me watch the special programmes that will be telecast. I have been away from my family for a long time. I have been travelling to Kasi, Hyderabad and Pune for Kalakalappu 2, and then to New York. So, these are times I cherish.”


'I prefer original scripts than remakes'

The conversation moves towards cinema. Kalakalappu 2, which  was supposed  to release for Pongal. “But Kee was supposed to release first. Then came Kalakalappu 2 which will be my first release for the year.

He is visibly excited to talk about Kee, a sci-fi thriller and says the idea was put forth to him four years ago. “The script  back then was way ahead of its time. It has a lot of things that we have come across — hacking and the infamous Blue Whale game. When we discussed this project with our producer Michael Rayappan, he was surprised and asked if such things really have taken place. Kee might be new to our audience, but people in America and China have found themselves in these situations even 10 years ago,” he reveals. Jiiva is known for doing movies like Kattradhu Tamizh which was ahead of its time in 2000s. He says, “That was a learning. I then started handling things in a mature way. Also, I haven’t been a part of remakes except Nanban. Why can’t we write our own scripts and not rely on remakes?". The actor also talks about Kalakalappu 2, which also has Nikki Galrani, Jai, Shiva and Catherine Tresa in lead roles. 

“While shooting in Kasi, my energy was at a different level. The positive vibe the town had helped me in delivering my best.  The town is 50 years behind when compared to cities like Chennai. But the people there are warm and amazing Moreover, it was fun having Nikki, Jai, Shiva and Catherine as my co-stars. I have been a huge fan of Sundar C’s direction and I am looking forward to Kalakalappu 2’s release.” Talking about his upcoming projects, he says, “I have Gorilla, a heist film, and will be taking off to Thailand in February. The pre-production work is on. Then, there is a film for my home production after which I will team up with Ike yet again after Sangili Bungili.” He signs off with wishes to our readers for a happy Pongal.

Meet Bruno and Ziku, the pet brothers
Bruno, the Labrador and Ziku, a Cali- fornian Ragdoll are among Jiiva and Supriya’s family members. They can be seen playing around and even posing for pictures. “Bruno hasn’t been well for the past couple of days but he is a good poser,” says Jiiva as Bruno smiles at the camera. Supriya takes Ziku in her arms and says, “So is Ziku and you can always find them playing with each other.” Ziku stares at the camera while Bruno runs around the lawn and poses standing in different locations.

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