Sridevi is a force of nature, says Rajeev Ravindranathan

Rajeev Ravindranathan is not new to films. You’ve already seen him in 3 Idiots and Kollywood aficionados will also recognise him from Vettai — but the comedian/actor is still as enthusiastic about each of his projects like a first-timer is often perceived to be, and that’s a good thing.

“We began shooting for English Vinglish, at least the scenes in New York, same time, last year, in September — it’s been a year since that journey began and the memories are still so fresh in my mind,” enthuses Rajeev as we catch up with him over the phone.

A Bangalorean by heart and soul, Rajeev is actually a Malayali, but never grew up in Kerala. “I was brought up outside India and then moved directly into Bangalore, so my Malayalam is not how it should be — that, however,  leaves me grappling with all Indian languages and that’s a good thing. I can speak a little of quite a few of them,” he shares.

Rajeev was auditioned for the role in Bangalore and was selected because he had worked previously with one of the assistant directors of the film. On reading the script, he jumped at the offer and though he’s not too much of a Bollywood fan, he says, “Who could have passed this script — it was almost like a dream come true, in so many ways.”

Rajeev plays a central character in the New York leg of the narrative and shares a lot of screen space with Sridevi, so without wasting too much time, we ask him how the experience was, of shooting with India’s favourite female actor. 

“Mind blowing! She’s a force of nature... surreal! I cannot begin to describe how awesome the whole experience was. Sridevi is a star, she defines the word, and yet she’s so grounded and never lets her celebrity status come onto the set. We’d discuss scenes and argue and rehearse just like two regular actors and that made me respect her a lot,” Rajeev exults.

“But, that said, she’s been in the industry for so long and it shows. Imagine an actor being so clued-in during a shoot that she is aware of some random light flickering somewhere, and even more interesting is the fact that she would actually hear the reel whirring and often tell the cameraman that he was running out of tape, even before he realised it — she’s out of this world, man!” he adds.

Impressed and surprised with his revelations we prod him for more information. “When you are around her, you know she’s meant to be an actor. She takes films really seriously, but she enjoys them from the bottom of her heart and that makes all the difference.

Like,  you know, she missed films so much that when her children were finally old enough to look after themselves, she made a comeback and we are so thankful she did,” he enthuses.

English Vinglish will soon be playing in theatres and Rajeev has much to be excited about, but before we let go of him, we ask him the necessary last question — future plans?

“I am open to a lot of stuff and am looking forward to a few more projects around the corner. I can’t talk too much about them right now, but I will definitely let you know when I can,” he concludes and we finally let him hang up.