Kanna Ravi, who recently made a memorable mark with Lokesh Kanagaraj's Coolie, starring Rajinikanth in the lead, is currently awaiting the release of a crime thriller series Veduvan, where he stars opposite Sanjeev Venkat.
Ahead of its premiere, Kanna Ravi spoke in length about his upcoming series and expressed gratitude to Lokesh Kanagaraj for his "second launch" into cinema after Kaithi with Coolie where he played Simon's (Nagarjuna) son Arjun. "When audiences see me in person, they go from recognising me as a familiar face in the industry to addressing me by my character names. First, it was Ajaz after Kaithi. Later, I was being referred to as Simon's son Arjun. That's the impact and the reach of these two films created by Lokesh," he shared in an exclusive interview with Cinema Express.
The action thriller was released in theatres on August 14 and premiered on Prime Video a month later. The film, which had a huge star cast, earned over Rs 500 crore at the box office worldwide, but was met with mixed reviews from audiences and critics. Later, innumerable memes created by social media users on a few scenes from Coolie flooded the internet and continues to be a hot topic of discussion.
When probed if he had watched any of them, Kanna Ravi excitedly replied, "Yes, of course. In fact, he told us all on set that certain scenes would become 'meme material'. That's exactly what happened also. He said, 'I told you so' to which I replied, 'You did, but I didn't anticipate the extent that these would be trolled'. But, he is happy."
Coolie starred Nagarjuna, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj, Rachita Ram with Aamir Khan and Pooja Hegde in special appearances. In the film, a former coolie union leader investigates the death of his friend which leads him to a crime syndicate.
Veduvan, written and directed by Pavan, hits OTT platform Zee5 on October 10. As per the plotline revealed by the makers, "The series follows Sooraj (Kanna Ravi), a struggling actor who lands the role of encounter specialist Arun in a biopic. What begins as just another chance at reviving his career quickly turns into something deeper, as Sooraj discovers Arun’s life was filled with secrets, high-stakes missions, and impossible choices. As reel and real start to blur, Sooraj is drawn into a gripping tale where duty, love, and morality collide."
Apart from Kanna Ravi and Sanjeev, the series also stars Sravnitha Srikanth, Aishwarya Raghupathi, Vinusha Devi, Lavanya, Rekha Nair, Parvathy, and Jeeva Ravi.