Jiiva (born Amar B. Choudry on 4 January 1984) is an Indian film actor who predominantly appears in Tamil films. Son of film producer R. B. Choudry, he started his career as a child actor in his father's films in 1996.
He performed his first lead role in the 2003 romance film Aasai Aasaiyai, before rising to fame with his breakthrough performance in Raam (2005), for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cyprus International Film Festival.[1] Since, he became known for his versatility, essaying distinctly different roles in his subsequent films, such as a stuntman in Dishyum (2006), a slum dweller in E (2006) and a psychopath in Kattradhu Thamizh (2007), and garnered high critical acclaim for his performances,[2] while also achieving commercial success with Siva Manasula Sakthi (2009), Kacheri Arambam (2010), Ko (2011) and Nanban (2012).
Contents
1 Career
1.1 Early career: 2003–2008
1.2 Breakthrough: 2009–present
2 Other work
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
Career
Early career: 2003–2008
Jeeva had first appeared as a child artist in minuscule roles in two of his father's productions. He made his feature film debut as a lead actor in 2003 with Aasai Aasaiyai,[3] following which he essayed the lead role in Thithikudhe (2003). Both the ventures, being romance films, were produced by his father R. B. Choudry as well, and failed to succeed at the box office.[4] His subsequent release, Ameer's mystery thriller Raam (2005) eventually gained him recognition in the film industry.[5] Jiiva played an autistic teenager, who is highly attached to his mother, but is suspected of having murdered her. The film received critical acclaim and garnered Jiiva positive remarks, with a Sify critic claiming that "as an actor Jiiva has arrived, as he exudes menace with his expressive body and eye language as Ram".[6] Raam also earned accolades on international platform, being screened at the International Film Festival in Goa and later at the Cyprus International Film Festival, where it won two awards, with Jiiva being chosen as the Best Actor, while its music director, Yuvan Shankar Raja, was awarded for the film's score.[1][7]
Jiiva next starred in Dishyum (2006) directed by Sasi, which portrayed him as a stuntman, who falls in love with a sculptor (Sandhya). The film, too, carried favorable reviews,[8][9] emerging commercially successful, whilst Jeeva's performance was lauded, with a review by Indiaglitz citing that he "seems to have taken off from where he had left in Ram" and was "impressive".[9] Jeeva later quoted that he had risked his life in many of the stunts he performed in the film.[5] Later that year, Jeeva made his debut in Malayalam cinema with Major Ravi's war film Keerthi Chakra, which saw a dubbed release as Aran in Tamil Nadu. The film, again produced by Jeeva's home banner, featured him as an Indian army soldier alongside Mohanlal. While the original version opened to positive reviews [10] and was declared a financial success,[11] its Tamil version, which had additional footage of Jeeva, comedy tracks with Ganja Karuppu and song montages featuring Jeeva and the lead actress Gopika, bombed at the box-office, with the additional scenes being lamented as the reason for the failure.[12] His final 2006 release was S. P. Jananathan's E alongside Nayantara which saw him in an unusual slum dweller role and the movie was a success. He then starred in Kattradhu Thamizh (2007), directed by Ram, opposite then newcomer Anjali. The film, which was shot for over a year across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Chennai,[13] featured him as a lower middle class post-graduate degree holder in Tamil literature, who gradually turns a psychopath, frustrated by the inequality in the social structure. Whilst the film opened to rave reviews,[14][15] Jeeva's portrayal as Prabhakar was unanimously praised by critics and widely termed as the best in 2007;[16] a Behindwoods review labelled it as "a performance of his lifetime",[14] while Rediff wrote that he was "endearing as the young, vulnerable Prabha, [...] perfect as the ganja-smoking near-lunatic [...] and freaking brilliant as the frustrated Tamil graduate".[15] "He was, in a nutshell, simply superb".[17] Jeeva had grown a full length beard for the character and cited the hardships during the shoots of the film, which he considered as his most painful experience and a "torturous affair".[13][18] He revealed that he even had to undergo therapy to "come out of the character" as it was "too emotional".[18][19] He was highly anticipated to win several awards for his performance, but eventually failed to garner a single nomination, since the film ended up as a commercial failure and went unnoticed.[20]
During the filming of Ko at Bergen in 2010
Following another financially as well critically successful film Thenavattu (2008), in which he was cast alongside Poonam Bajwa.
Breakthrough: 2009–present
He appeared in director M. Rajesh's maiden venture, the comedy film Siva Manasula Sakthi (2009). His performance was highly praised by critics and the film became a commercial success. In 2010, he starred alongside Poonam again in Kacheri Arambam a failure. Singam Puli, which for the first time features him in dual roles, was his first 2011 release, following which K. V. Anand's political thriller Ko (2011) released. The latter, which featured him as a brave photojournalist, became a commercial success upon release, while his performance received favorable reviews. Rediff noted that the role was a "cake-walk for Jiiva: he's had a ball with the camera, clicking shots in almost impossible situations and making sure his trademark effervescence is present at all times",[21] while Sify cited that with this performance he was "going to be a force to reckon with in Tamil cinema".[22] His next two films Rowthiram and Vandhaan Vendraan by R. Kannan released in quick succession; both opened to mixed critical reception.[23][24][25] Jiiva is called "Ezhuchi Thalapathy" by his fans. A title coined since the success of KO. [26]
In 2012, he was first seen in S. Shankar's comedy-drama Nanban, which featured him as part of an ensemble cast including Vijay, Srikanth and Ileana D'Cruz released to highly positive reviews and become a big blockbuster.[27] His upcoming projects include Mysskin's superhero film Mugamoodi and Gautham Menon's next directorial titled Neethaane En Ponvasantham.[28] After that, he is to work on Bejoy Nambiar's David, in which he plays one of the three heroes.[29] Furthermore, he has confirmed that he would be part of S. P. Jananathan's untitled forthcoming project as well, co-starring Jayam Ravi[30] and also Endrendrum Punnagai with Trisha Krishnan and director Ahmed.[31]
Other work
Jiiva was a judge on STAR Vijay's reality dance competition Jodi Number One in its third season along with Sangeetha and Aishwarya Rajinikanth. In mid-2011, he announced that he would start a film production company called Spiral Dreams with his brother Jithan Ramesh in order to promote new directors like his father.[32]
Personal life
Jiiva was born as Amar to film producer R. B. Choudary and Mahjabeen on 4 January 1984 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is the youngest of four brothers. His eldest brother B. Suresh is a co-producer in their home banner Super Good Films, while his second brother Jeevan is an entrepreneur in the steel industry. His third brother is Jithan Ramesh, an actor in the Tamil film industry. On 21 November 2007, Jiiva married his childhood friend Supriya in New Delhi.[33] They have a son named Sparsha born 14 October 2010.[34]
Filmography
Year Film Role Language Notes
2003 Aasai Aasaiyai Vinod Tamil
2003 Thithikudhe Venu Tamil
2005 Raam Rama Krishna Tamil Cyprus International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2006 Dishyum Bhaskar Tamil
2006 Keerthi Chakra Havildar Jaikumar Malayalam Asianet Film Award for Best Star Pair (shared with Gopika)
2006 E Easwaran (E) Tamil
2007 Pori Hari Tamil
2007 Kattradhu Thamizh Prabhakar Tamil Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Actor
2007 Rameswaram Jeevan Tamil
2008 Thenavattu Kottaisami Tamil
2009 Siva Manasula Sakthi Siva Tamil
2010 Kacheri Arambam Paari Tamil
2010 Boss Engira Bhaskaran Shiva Tamil Cameo appearance
2011 Singam Puli Ashok,
Shiva Tamil
2011 Ko Ashwin Tamil Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil
Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Actor
2011 Rowthiram Siva Tamil
2011 Vandhaan Vendraan Arjun Tamil
2012 Nanban Sevarkodi Senthil Tamil
2012 Mugamoodi Anand / Bruce Lee Tamil
2012 Neethaane En Ponvasantham Varun Krishnan Tamil
2012 Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu Telugu Cameo Appearance
2013 David David Tamil Releasing on February 1, 2013
2013 Endrendrum Punnagai Tamil Filming
2013 Onbadhula Guru Tamil Cameo appearance
Filming
2013 Yaan Tamil Filming
He performed his first lead role in the 2003 romance film Aasai Aasaiyai, before rising to fame with his breakthrough performance in Raam (2005), for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cyprus International Film Festival.[1] Since, he became known for his versatility, essaying distinctly different roles in his subsequent films, such as a stuntman in Dishyum (2006), a slum dweller in E (2006) and a psychopath in Kattradhu Thamizh (2007), and garnered high critical acclaim for his performances,[2] while also achieving commercial success with Siva Manasula Sakthi (2009), Kacheri Arambam (2010), Ko (2011) and Nanban (2012).
Contents
1 Career
1.1 Early career: 2003–2008
1.2 Breakthrough: 2009–present
2 Other work
3 Personal life
4 Filmography
Career
Early career: 2003–2008
Jeeva had first appeared as a child artist in minuscule roles in two of his father's productions. He made his feature film debut as a lead actor in 2003 with Aasai Aasaiyai,[3] following which he essayed the lead role in Thithikudhe (2003). Both the ventures, being romance films, were produced by his father R. B. Choudry as well, and failed to succeed at the box office.[4] His subsequent release, Ameer's mystery thriller Raam (2005) eventually gained him recognition in the film industry.[5] Jiiva played an autistic teenager, who is highly attached to his mother, but is suspected of having murdered her. The film received critical acclaim and garnered Jiiva positive remarks, with a Sify critic claiming that "as an actor Jiiva has arrived, as he exudes menace with his expressive body and eye language as Ram".[6] Raam also earned accolades on international platform, being screened at the International Film Festival in Goa and later at the Cyprus International Film Festival, where it won two awards, with Jiiva being chosen as the Best Actor, while its music director, Yuvan Shankar Raja, was awarded for the film's score.[1][7]
Jiiva next starred in Dishyum (2006) directed by Sasi, which portrayed him as a stuntman, who falls in love with a sculptor (Sandhya). The film, too, carried favorable reviews,[8][9] emerging commercially successful, whilst Jeeva's performance was lauded, with a review by Indiaglitz citing that he "seems to have taken off from where he had left in Ram" and was "impressive".[9] Jeeva later quoted that he had risked his life in many of the stunts he performed in the film.[5] Later that year, Jeeva made his debut in Malayalam cinema with Major Ravi's war film Keerthi Chakra, which saw a dubbed release as Aran in Tamil Nadu. The film, again produced by Jeeva's home banner, featured him as an Indian army soldier alongside Mohanlal. While the original version opened to positive reviews [10] and was declared a financial success,[11] its Tamil version, which had additional footage of Jeeva, comedy tracks with Ganja Karuppu and song montages featuring Jeeva and the lead actress Gopika, bombed at the box-office, with the additional scenes being lamented as the reason for the failure.[12] His final 2006 release was S. P. Jananathan's E alongside Nayantara which saw him in an unusual slum dweller role and the movie was a success. He then starred in Kattradhu Thamizh (2007), directed by Ram, opposite then newcomer Anjali. The film, which was shot for over a year across Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Chennai,[13] featured him as a lower middle class post-graduate degree holder in Tamil literature, who gradually turns a psychopath, frustrated by the inequality in the social structure. Whilst the film opened to rave reviews,[14][15] Jeeva's portrayal as Prabhakar was unanimously praised by critics and widely termed as the best in 2007;[16] a Behindwoods review labelled it as "a performance of his lifetime",[14] while Rediff wrote that he was "endearing as the young, vulnerable Prabha, [...] perfect as the ganja-smoking near-lunatic [...] and freaking brilliant as the frustrated Tamil graduate".[15] "He was, in a nutshell, simply superb".[17] Jeeva had grown a full length beard for the character and cited the hardships during the shoots of the film, which he considered as his most painful experience and a "torturous affair".[13][18] He revealed that he even had to undergo therapy to "come out of the character" as it was "too emotional".[18][19] He was highly anticipated to win several awards for his performance, but eventually failed to garner a single nomination, since the film ended up as a commercial failure and went unnoticed.[20]
During the filming of Ko at Bergen in 2010
Following another financially as well critically successful film Thenavattu (2008), in which he was cast alongside Poonam Bajwa.
Breakthrough: 2009–present
He appeared in director M. Rajesh's maiden venture, the comedy film Siva Manasula Sakthi (2009). His performance was highly praised by critics and the film became a commercial success. In 2010, he starred alongside Poonam again in Kacheri Arambam a failure. Singam Puli, which for the first time features him in dual roles, was his first 2011 release, following which K. V. Anand's political thriller Ko (2011) released. The latter, which featured him as a brave photojournalist, became a commercial success upon release, while his performance received favorable reviews. Rediff noted that the role was a "cake-walk for Jiiva: he's had a ball with the camera, clicking shots in almost impossible situations and making sure his trademark effervescence is present at all times",[21] while Sify cited that with this performance he was "going to be a force to reckon with in Tamil cinema".[22] His next two films Rowthiram and Vandhaan Vendraan by R. Kannan released in quick succession; both opened to mixed critical reception.[23][24][25] Jiiva is called "Ezhuchi Thalapathy" by his fans. A title coined since the success of KO. [26]
In 2012, he was first seen in S. Shankar's comedy-drama Nanban, which featured him as part of an ensemble cast including Vijay, Srikanth and Ileana D'Cruz released to highly positive reviews and become a big blockbuster.[27] His upcoming projects include Mysskin's superhero film Mugamoodi and Gautham Menon's next directorial titled Neethaane En Ponvasantham.[28] After that, he is to work on Bejoy Nambiar's David, in which he plays one of the three heroes.[29] Furthermore, he has confirmed that he would be part of S. P. Jananathan's untitled forthcoming project as well, co-starring Jayam Ravi[30] and also Endrendrum Punnagai with Trisha Krishnan and director Ahmed.[31]
Other work
Jiiva was a judge on STAR Vijay's reality dance competition Jodi Number One in its third season along with Sangeetha and Aishwarya Rajinikanth. In mid-2011, he announced that he would start a film production company called Spiral Dreams with his brother Jithan Ramesh in order to promote new directors like his father.[32]
Personal life
Jiiva was born as Amar to film producer R. B. Choudary and Mahjabeen on 4 January 1984 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He is the youngest of four brothers. His eldest brother B. Suresh is a co-producer in their home banner Super Good Films, while his second brother Jeevan is an entrepreneur in the steel industry. His third brother is Jithan Ramesh, an actor in the Tamil film industry. On 21 November 2007, Jiiva married his childhood friend Supriya in New Delhi.[33] They have a son named Sparsha born 14 October 2010.[34]
Filmography
Year Film Role Language Notes
2003 Aasai Aasaiyai Vinod Tamil
2003 Thithikudhe Venu Tamil
2005 Raam Rama Krishna Tamil Cyprus International Film Festival Award for Best Actor
2006 Dishyum Bhaskar Tamil
2006 Keerthi Chakra Havildar Jaikumar Malayalam Asianet Film Award for Best Star Pair (shared with Gopika)
2006 E Easwaran (E) Tamil
2007 Pori Hari Tamil
2007 Kattradhu Thamizh Prabhakar Tamil Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Actor
2007 Rameswaram Jeevan Tamil
2008 Thenavattu Kottaisami Tamil
2009 Siva Manasula Sakthi Siva Tamil
2010 Kacheri Arambam Paari Tamil
2010 Boss Engira Bhaskaran Shiva Tamil Cameo appearance
2011 Singam Puli Ashok,
Shiva Tamil
2011 Ko Ashwin Tamil Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Tamil
Nominated, Vijay Award for Best Actor
2011 Rowthiram Siva Tamil
2011 Vandhaan Vendraan Arjun Tamil
2012 Nanban Sevarkodi Senthil Tamil
2012 Mugamoodi Anand / Bruce Lee Tamil
2012 Neethaane En Ponvasantham Varun Krishnan Tamil
2012 Yeto Vellipoyindhi Manasu Telugu Cameo Appearance
2013 David David Tamil Releasing on February 1, 2013
2013 Endrendrum Punnagai Tamil Filming
2013 Onbadhula Guru Tamil Cameo appearance
Filming
2013 Yaan Tamil Filming
