Actor, director and scriptwriter Ramesh Aravind believes that one should run with the times. It is no surprise that he has chosen to play a cyber cop in ‘100’, releasing on November 19, given that cyber crime is proliferating across the country, impoverishing and traumatising lakhs of gullible people who are not tech savvy.
Having clocked three decades in the film industry and worked in six languages, Ramesh has never shied away from experimenting with roles. For his role of inspector Vishnu, a cyber cop in ‘100’, the actor interacted with some real life cyber cops to understand how technology is used to crack cyber crime cases.
In a freewheeling chat with Nina C George of Showtime, Ramesh talks about the film’s making and why the subject is close to his heart.
Excerpts:
How did the idea for ‘100’ take shape?
‘100’ is a family thriller, which I have acted in and directed too. The story is about how social media affects our lives and how it can unleash a lot of mess, if not monitored. As children, we were always told not to accept anything from strangers, but now with everybody having a mobile phone, there are so many strangers connecting with you via social media. They throw fake news at you even without your knowledge. The film tells you why you should beware of strangers in this era of social media.
You played a cop in ‘Bhairadevi’ and ‘Shivaji Suratkal’ and in many other earlier projects. How different is playing a cop in ‘100’?
In some of my earlier projects, I have played a cop in comedy films. But ‘Bhairadevi’, ‘Shivaji Suratkal’ and ‘100’ feature serious cops who mean business. The kind who are out to finish off villains. I thoroughly enjoyed playing a cop and the process that led to recreating every minute detail, which goes into the making of a cyber cop.
Why did you decide to call it ‘100’?
The number ‘100’ denotes the police helpline and is easily relatable in any language. However, you will find another twist when you see the film. We have made a conscious effort to stay away from the predictable and be relevant to what the audience are experiencing now. Everybody is glued to their phones. The lockdown made it worse because people were constantly on their phones scanning social media or the internet all the time. It became a way of life. In the film, we talk about the havoc the excess use of social media can cause in people’s lives.
Did you get an insight into the technology used by cyber cops to crack cases?
I visited the office of the cyber police station and I was surprised to see the corporate outlook. Most of the cops there looked like geeks. They are extremely well-versed with technology and can retrace the contents of the phone even if it is broken. This input helped me understand how it works. In fact, the trailer, with the tagline that reads ‘Technology is killing me’, has become a huge craze with people making memes from it.