Don't have a leader, but not averse to entering politics: Actor Dinesh Ravi

Actor Dinesh Ravi, who plays a politician in Annanukku Jey, that released on 31 August, said he plans to enter politics in the future.

The actor, who has played the lead in a number of critically acclaimed films including India's official entry to the Oscars in 2015, Visaranai, seems to have caused quite a bit of excitement in the film circles. 

Talking to Cinestaan.com, Dinesh said, "For me, acting is my first choice. I need more experience in politics. To be honest, I am pained and concerned about what is happening today. I am even angry about some things." 

It is clear that the actor is not too happy with the political developments in the state of Tamil Nadu over the last few months.

"When people protest for their rights, they are shot," he said, referring to the Thoothukudi incident in which 13 people were killed in May this year after police opened fire on protestors who had been demonstrating peacefully for a 100 days. The protestors were demanding the closure of the Sterlite Copper plant, which they alleged was polluting the environment.

"We don't have a leader here. We feel the void. I don't know how to express it. But I am not averse to entering politics," said the actor. 

At a time when superstars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan have entered politics and the elections are round the corner, he was asked if he will support one of them. "I think I will support TTV Dinakaran. I thinks he knows what he is doing and seems equipped to handle the challenges of the position."

The actor, who has also launched his own production house, said that for the time being he might not be active in politics but definitely has plans to do so in the future.

As an actor, Dinesh has steadily been on the rise. Be it Attakathi (2012), in which he played a road-side romeo, Cuckoo (2014), in which he played a visually impaired man, Thirudan Police (2014), in which he played a cop, or the highly acclaimed superhit, Visaranai, in which he played an innocent man picked up by cops for questioning, Dinesh's performances have come in for praise from all quarters.

Especially, Visaranai, which was directed and produced by National Award winning director Vetrimaaran, got him attention from across the country. Interestingly, Annanukku Jey has also been produced by Vetrimaaran. 

Commenting on the film, Dinesh said, "Annanukku Jey might be a political satire but let me assure you that it does not mock anybody. It only tries to creat an awareness about the political system. After Attakathi, when people kept approaching me with films, director Rajkumar told me that he had penned this script having just me in mind. I was happy about the love and the trust that somebody had placed in me. To be honest, I am someone who does not search for scripts that suit me. I am someone who adapts myself to the scripts that come my way. Annanukku Jey was also like that."

In the film, which is inspired by a true incident, Dinesh plays a politician. He said, "I play Matta Sekar, the son of a poor man. Matta Sekar is your typical road-side romeo who dreams about girls. He knows nothing about politics but gets into politics. Everybody around him would be doing politics but he would be unaware of all that is happening around him. He is very loyal to a person who he thinks is his mentor in politics. He tries to learn politics. This film has everything — friendship, politics, love and betrayal.

"What is happening in politics today and what generally happens in politics have both been combined to make the script of this film. Also, the politics that this film talks about is not at the level of the chief minister. It is about a person who ends up being a party's district secretary."

The film focuses on the rivalry of two political parties — a national party and a regional party. When asked what was the biggest challenge in doing in this film, Dinesh was quick with an answer — climbing palm trees!

"I have always been under the impression that the two things that one does not need to make an effort to master are climbing trees and swimming. I was under the impression that tree climbing would be easy and had told the director, 'Don't worry bro! I'll do it.' When you climb a palm tree, your legs get scraped. From the thighs to your feet, your legs get scraped and it requires quite a bit of energy to climb up to the top. It took me three hours to climb a palm tree and with the cameraman requesting retakes, I had to climb it thrice. Beyond that, I had no energy left. I fell ill after the effort.

The strain of climbing the Tiruvannamalai [city in Tamil Nadu] hills and climbing trees was so exhausting that I was down with fever. But I recovered soon. Other than that, this was a very enjoyable experience and I loved working on this film."