Actor Ravi Mohan turned emotional at a recent awards event in Chennai, where he publicly apologised to his fans for the first time since his highly publicised divorce battle and the controversies surrounding his personal life.
Addressing the audience at the JFW awards, the actor reflected on his 23-year journey in cinema, saying that he had spent half of his life in the industry. "I am turning 46 this year. Out of those 46 years, I have spent 23 years, half my life, in cinema," he said.
Speaking about the events that unfolded over the past two years, Ravi admitted that one emotional decision had hurt many of those who stood by him. "I have only one regret. I made one small mistake, and that ended up hurting all of you. Whether it was my personal life or my professional life, I became a little too emotional in my personal life," he said.
The actor went on to reveal that it was the support of his colleagues and fans that stopped him from walking away from cinema altogether. "Everyone in the industry came up to me and said, 'You can say anything you want. We'll accept it. But don't ever say that you won't be a part of cinema anymore.' I took those words as gospel."
In one of the most emotional moments of the speech, Ravi publicly apologised to his fans. "Today, before all of you, I kneel down and ask for your forgiveness. I promise that I will never again betray cinema, or any of you, or my fans who love me. I will definitely come back. In fact, I already am."
He then referred to some of his most memorable screen characters, saying, "As your Santhosh, your Kumaran, your Dhruvan, your Thani Oruvan, your Ponniyin Selvan, your Karathey Babu—I will definitely return."
Ravi also said that one positive outcome of the controversy surrounding him was that it encouraged conversations around mental health. "Many people started talking about mental health. Several people who never knew how to speak about it reached out to me saying, 'Because of you, I also feel like opening up.' That made me incredibly happy," he opened up.
Ravi Mohan's speech comes months after his separation from estranged wife Aarti Ravi spiralled into one of Tamil cinema's most closely watched legal disputes. The actor announced the separation in 2024, following which both parties made public allegations against each other, while their divorce proceedings and related maintenance litigation continued before the courts.
His personal life remained under intense public scrutiny due to his association with singer and spiritual therapist Keneshaa Francis. While Ravi had earlier described Keneshaa as a close friend and therapist, speculation about their relationship persisted after the two were seen together at several public events. More recently, Keneshaa announced that she was stepping away from Chennai and distancing herself from the controversy after facing sustained online abuse, prompting Ravi to hold an emotional press conference where he condemned cyberbullying, spoke about his mental health struggles and announced that he would not take up acting assignments until his divorce proceedings were concluded.
On the work front, Ravi Mohan is currently busy shooting for his directorial debut, An Ordinary Man. He recently joined the sets of Benz, which is a part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe. He will be seen sharing the screen with Raghava Lawrence and Nivin Pauly in the Bakkiyaraj Kannan directorial.
With Karathey Babu, helmed by Ganesh K Babu, set for an August 28 release, the actor has joined hands with debut director GND Shyam Kumar for his next. He also has multiple other projects in the pipeline, including the long-delayed Genie and Karthik Yogi's film, previously titled Bro Code.
