Actor Kanna Ravi’s journey in showbiz has been anything but easy. Beginning his career with short films and YouTube content, he first caught public attention through his lead role in the YouTube sitcom Livin. Since then, he has appeared in notable films and series such as Veera, Mandela, Saani Kaayidham, Lover, Fingertip, and Inspector Rishi, among others. Most recently, Ravi portrayed Arjun, the son of Nagarjuna’s menacing antagonist Simon in Coolie. His romantic subplot became a key development in the film’s second half, and the role gave him the opportunity to share screen space with stalwarts like Rajinikanth, Nagarjuna, and Soubin Shahir. Ahead of the release of his upcoming ZEE5 series Veduvan, a crime thriller in which he plays an undercover cop on the trail of a psychopathic killer, Kanna Ravi opens up about his role in Coolie, his experience working with Rajinikanth, and his gratitude to Lokesh Kanagaraj for changing his career trajectory. Kanna Ravi said, “Coolie was like a dream for me. At the time when COVID-19 came and most of my work got released on OTT platforms, to be cast in one of the most anticipated films of the year under the direction of someone like Lokesh Kanagaraj and starring my god, Rajinikanth sir, was a dream come true for me. Each update from the film was generating much anticipation, and I knew it was going to be the talk of the town. I did not think much. I just saw the chance to act with my one and only Thalaivar. That’s all I thought about.” The Veduvan actor also remembers not telling anyone about his role in Coolie. “I did not tell anyone that I got this big chance. Because if I tell them, they will be pressuring me to know when it is coming out and how it went and all that. Coolie was such a big deal for me. I just wanted to be present there as an actor and deliver my best on set.” Kanna Ravi was also quick to add how Coolie impacted his filmography. He said, ”Coolie gave me light in my career. I became more selective with my scripts after that experience. Whatever I was missing in my career Coolie gave me. People in the industry really started thinking that he is hero material. That film totally changed how I was perceived. I can totally feel it around me.” Also Read | Silambarasan film with Vetrimaaran titled Arasan, see first look poster Of course, this is not the first time Kanna Ravi has collaborated with Coolie director Lokesh Kanagaraj. He played the now-popular character Ajaz Ahmed in Karthi starrer Kaithi. Talking about Lokesh Kanagaraj, the actor said, “I am forever grateful towards him. Because he gave me my very first identity in the world of cinema as Ajaz Ahmed in Kaithi, and now for the second time, he gave me Coolie.” Kanna Ravi also clarified the fan theory that his character from the series Veduvan is a spin-off of his Ajaz Ahmed character in Kaithi. He said, “My character in Veduvan is not at all related to Ajaz Ahmed. It’s totally a different story. I used Ajaz Ahmed’s backstory and his emotional graph as a reference point for my performance in Veduvan. That’s it.” Veduvan will start streaming on ZEE5 on October 10.
