In an interview with Film Companion, Jayam Ravi, who plays the righteous and mighty Chola prince Arulmozhi Varman in Mani Ratnam's upcoming film Ponniyin Selvan: 2, spoke about the difficulties of playing a good guy on screen.
When asked about the challenges of depicting vulnerability and goodness on screen, the actor said that he relied on keywords from Mani Ratnam to emote certain feelings while acting. "Playing the good guy is difficult, because even when you're playing a bad guy, there is some level of body language involved. But there is no such body language for a good guy. So, I realised that the emotions must be seen while the character looks at somebody. All that stuck with me was Mani sir's voice in my mind, telling me about my character."
The actor further said revealed that he got the biggest compliment for the performance from his brother, Mohan Raja. "After the release of the film (Ponniyin Selvan: 1), when my elder brother watched the first shot, he said he couldn't see Ravi there. That was the best compliment." Ponniyin Selvan: 2 is all set to be released on April 28.