Actor Jiiva has never had it so good before. His latest release, Nanban, made record-breaking business at the box office. Jiiva points out that although it is a remake of ‘3 Idiots,’ sensible changes in the script made sure that it clicked well among the audience.
At the moment, Celebrity Cricket League (CCL) takes up a lot of Jiiva’s time but he confesses that he always loved the sport and now getting on to the field and burning it out offers an all new high. “A group of actors, also close friends, get together and play cricket once in a way. It’s not like we are strangers to the sport. And shuttling between CCL practice sessions, matches and shooting schedules is a challenge in itself,” Jiiva tells Metrolife.
Jiiva recalls some memorable moments that he and Tamil actor Vijay had during the making of Nanban. He can’t contain his laughter when he says, “I had a tough time getting Vijay to laugh.
There was this one scene where he and I had to pull down our pants before Ileana and we just couldn’t gather ourselves to do it. And suddenly I dropped my pants and Vijay burst out laughing and soon he too dropped his pants. That was the first time I saw Vijay laugh on the sets. He’s a very reserved person but occasionally gave in to my pranks,” recalls Jiiva.
The romantic and comedian in Jiiva will soon give way to a superhero image in Mugamoodi, meaning mask. Written and directed by Myshkin, Jiiva informs that there’s going to be plenty of edge-of- the-seat moments. “There’s an image changeover for me and I’ve really worked hard to perfect my martial art moves. The film will have an opening kung fu scene. There will be a martial arts expert to supervise the scene,” says Jiiva. Will he sport a six-pack? “Not a six-pack but definitely will work towards keeping my body fit. A six-pack never really crosses my mind. I don’t belong to that league,” he adds.
Jiiva will have three different characters — one as a school-going boy, second as a college-goer and later a working professional in Neethaane En Ponvasantham. “I had to lose a lot of weight for this character and I lost 12 kgs in 45 days. All the workouts and cardio during the CCL really helped me shed a substantial amount of weight,” he beams.
After this, he will switch to a political thriller with SP Jananathan's untitled project opposite his close chum Jayam Ravi. “None of the films that I am working on this year are repetitive in character. It’s an enviable variety,” he says.
Jiiva is no gadget addict but he makes sure he tweets regularly. How does he react to a possible ban on these networking sites from the government? “I wonder why all this fuss. These sites are a great way to staying connected with people. At least, for an actor, it is double publicity,” he sums up.