Actor Jiiva, who made the mind-bending sci-fi film Black last year, will next be seen in an adventure film titled Aghathiyaa, which is set to hit the theatres this Friday. While the trailer for the Pa Vijay directorial suggests a cerebral entertainer with supernatural and time-travel elements, Jiiva says that it is different from his last film. “Aghathiyaa is more of an entertainer. It deals with themes like reincarnation, and revolves around several genres like horror, comedy, and adventure,” says Jiiva.
A swashbuckling adventure, Aghathiyaa is reminiscent of yesteryear Hollywood blockbusters like Indiana Jones and National Treasure. But the actor is quick to set the expectations straight. “It is a South Indian film. And I play an art director who has erected a scary house set. But from the looks of it, it might feel similar to those two English films. The moment Pa Vijay narrated the screenplay to me, I really liked it,” reveals Jiiva. The upcoming film marks the actor's first collaboration with Raashii Khanna, who plays his love interest in the film. Aghathiyaa also brings Jiiva and director Pa Vijay together for the first time. The actor praises Vijay's leadership on set, saying that “he has the aura of a director.” Jiiva also points out that he always submits to and is completely dependent on his directors.
In one of Jiiva’s older interviews, he stated that he would like to do a larger-than-life role. On whether Aghathiyaa fits the bill, the actor states, “Earlier, I experimented with films like Mugamoodi and Yaan, but they did not meet expectations. Then, I stuck to serious roles. But I am still looking for a project that is grander and has a bigger script.” The actor then reminds us that he does not read too much into his failures. "I do not take successes to head and failures to heart," he says. Jiiva goes on to comment on how Black is similar to the minimal production of films from the 1990s or 2000s. Referring to the scene in Black where the protagonist sees a parallel dimension version of himself, Jiiva states, “It was a tough sequence to shoot, but we did not use any cutting-edge technology like in Aghathiyaa. It is a regular dupe shot. With Black, we pretty much went with old-school practical methods.”
Jiiva says they initially had doubts about the theatrical performance of Black and thought it was more suited for the OTT audience. However, they still chose to release it alongside the Rajinikanth-starrer Vettaiyan. He says, "Before the release, we thought, even if it weren't successful, people would still appreciate the director's efforts in bringing a daring, cerebral premise to the screen. I thought we would have our success in OTT, if not in the theatres. That is the kind of compromise we came into." Thankfully, the film went on to meet the expectations of the makers. Jiiva says, "The success of the film was encouraging."
The actor played a supporting role in Kabir Khan’s 83, which charts the Indian cricket team’s triumphant ODI World Cup campaign from 1983. Jiiva also has to his credit the Malayalam film, Keerthi Chakra, with Mohanlal, which he did at a time when he was still new to the film industry. Both the Malayalam and Hindi films had him playing a Tamil character. On whether that would be his approach to choosing non-Tamil projects going forward, Jiiva says that he wants to do films only in Tamil now. “Now, it is about the market, about how meaty your role is. So I would like to see myself as an actor who carries the film, which revolves around me,” asserts Jiiva. He also jokingly recounts declining the role of a half-shaved antagonist in Lijo Jose Pellissery's Malaikottai Vaaliban, because he found it “de-glamorous” and too different for his liking.
Jiiva says that he is yet to sign up for a new project. However, he mentions a film that he did a few years ago, which is yet to see the light of day. “There is this film called Golmaal, a multi-starrer based on the Malayalam film Vettam. It involves two friends who go to a foreign country, and there is a dog as well. Kids will like it,” he says while adding, “The film has proper Madha Gaja Raja-type comedy.” Speaking of kids, Jiiva says that the best response for Aghathiyaa would come from them. “We are very much looking forward to seeing how they will react. They would love the climax for its visual effects. It is done by the team which worked on Marvel's Doctor Strange.”
