Jiiva plays a autistic, 17-year-old, who goes to any lengths to avenge the homicide of his mother in Ameer's Raam. He did Reiki, and met autistic persons and observed their mannerisms for his role.
Jiiva was next seen as the stunt double, Risk Bhaskar, who falls in love with a college student in Sasi's Dishyum. Jiiva prepped for his role by learning acrobatics and gymnastics.In SP Jananathan's E, Jiiva plays a materialistic and selfish orphan, brought up in the slums of Chennai, who undergoes a change of heart, and fights a case of unethical medical trial.Jiiva brings alive Prabhakar, the Tamil-postgraduate, who becomes a tortured victim of Chennai city's gentrification, and slowly looses his mental balance, in Ram's Kattradhu Tamizh.Jiiva's depiction of a happy-go-lucky youngster, who tries with all his might, to marry the girl of his dreams, in Rajesh's SMS, is impeccable. His comic scenes with Santhanam were a riot.Jiiva is super-convincing as the professional photojournalist, who exposes the true intentions of a seemingly woke, young politician, in KV Anand's Ko.Jiiva next donned the role of the angry young man, who's trained in the ancient Indian martial art Kalarippayattu by his grandfather to fight against evil in Gokul's Rowthiram.Jiiva nails the character Sevarkodi Senthil, a poor youth, who takes up engineering to improve his family's financial situation and get his sister married, in Nanban, the Tamil remake of 3 idiots.Jiiva, sporting a short haircut, is perfect as Varun, the quintessential GVM engineering pass-out, who breaks up with his childhood girlfriend, because of a disagreement over career choices in NEP.Jiiva plays an youngster, who turns into a vigilante to fight against injustice and corruption, quite convincingly, in Mysskin's weakest film yet, Mugamoodi.Jiiva was next seen as an amateur guitarist born into a family of lower-middle class Christians in a poor colony in Mumbai, who gets sucked into religion-based politics, in Bejoy Nambiar's David.In Ahmed's Endrendrum Punnagai, Jiiva is brillaint as the committed bachelor, who is thrown a curveball when he starts to develop feelings for a woman he works with.