Revathy: Don’t Do Films For The Sake Of Working

As someone who puts in a lot of effort to select films, veteran actor Revathy says she aims to not repeat a role just to be seen regularly on screen.

The three-time National Award winner said she is in a phase in her career where she can afford to "sit back" when the roles that come her way don't interest her.

"I take a lot of trouble to select the films that I do. I have to like the entire film and the role that I play. I put a lot of effort and that shows on screen and that’s why people have connected with my characters. I don’t like repeating myself.

"When something nice comes, I take it and if nothing interesting comes, I don’t. These days I don’t do films for the sake of working because I can afford to sit back and enjoy my time,” Revathy, who was last seen in this year’s Telugu-Hindi film “Major”, told PTI in an interview.

Today, she said, there are many diverse opportunities for actors to directors courtesy OTT platforms.

Having acted in Prime Video's Telugu-language romantic anthology "Modern Love Hyderabad", the 56-year-old actor-filmmaker said a good content is language and platform agnostic.

"Everyone is busy from actors, directors, writers, music directors, etc and it is good for all of us because there is a lot of work for everybody,” she said.

"Content is the master wherever it is and if the content is good, it connects with the audience and automatically more people watch it. I always believe in that and that is what I look at as an actor and as a director," Revathy added.

Her latest release is "Aye Zindagi", described as a human drama about life and its many paradoxes. Set against the backdrop of ethical organ transplants, the Hindi film directed by debutant Anirban Bose was released on Friday.

While Revathy had loved the idea of the movie, she wasn’t initially sure if she would be able to shoot for the film because she was planning to commence the shooting of her own directorial venture “Salaam Venky”, starring Kajol, around the same time.

However, things turned in her favour and she first began work on “Aye Zindagi” before starting her own movie.

Revathy, who is associated with social causes related to organ donation in real life, said it was easier for her to dive into the world of "Aye Zindagi".

Based on a true story, the film follows the story of a 26-year-old liver cirrhosis patient Vinay Chawla, played by Satyajeet Dubey, whose unlikely bond with Revathi Rajan, a grief counsellor (Revathy), rekindles his hope and faith in life.

“It is a very well-written script and that’s why I wanted to do it. It is a very rare role that is written. I have volunteered for an organ donation campaign and I am also a trustee in a kidney foundation, so this character of grief counsellor was not new to me.

"For me, when Anirban told me the story, I was taken aback that somebody had already written it into a script. And his idea was to stick to it in a real sense and not make anything overly dramatic.”

"Life is precious" and that is the larger point the film tries to make, said the actor.

"We need to value what we have rather than run behind things that we don’t have, pause and think. I think a lot of us have experienced this in the last two years,” she added.

Revathy, whose career spans four decades across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, said she never planned her career.

“I did films that I liked and didn’t do movies that I did not. I did not have a strategy that was my only negative thing. If I had a strategy, I would have been in a different (place). I went with what my heart said,” she added.

Produced by Platoon One Films' Shiladitya Bora, “Aye Zindagi” also features Indu Thampy, Hemant Kher, Shrikant Verma, Sawan Tank and Mahesh Sharma.