Jai (actor)

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Jai
Born
Jaikanth Sampat

(1984-04-06) 6 April 1984 (age 40)[1]
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India[2]
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
  • singer
Years active2002–present
RelativesSrikanth Deva (cousin)
Deva (uncle)
Sabesh–Murali (uncles)

Jaikanth Sampath (6 April 1984) also known as Jai is an Indian actor and musician working in Tamil films. The nephew of noted composer Deva & the cousin of Srikanth Deva, Jai had made his acting debut in a supporting role in Bagavathi (2002). In 2007, he successfully auditioned for a leading role in Venkat Prabhu's sports film Chennai 600028. His movie Subramaniapuram (2008) was also a big success, and Jai was praised for his performance.

Jai subsequently garnered more praise for diverse roles, including a villager on holiday in Goa (2010), a timid factory worker in Engaeyum Eppothum (2011) and a customer care executive in the romantic drama Raja Rani (2013), which became his biggest commercial successful film.[3] He made his debut as a singer in the film Jarugandi (2018).[4]

Personal life

Born into a family of musicians, Jai has stated that music was close to his heart and that it influenced him in his "growing years", particularly crediting his uncle, the composer Deva. He completed his schooling in Lamech School, Valasaravakkam, Chennai. He completed fifth grade in keyboard from Trinity College London and has said that he likes to be involved in the music compositions of his films. He has called himself a "huge fan" of Yuvan Shankar Raja's work, saying that he has "often dreamt of surpassing his work as a composer someday".[2]

In an interview with Ananda Vikatan, he confirmed on the rumors about him embracing Islam, that he has been practising Islam for seven years and thinking of changing his name to Ajeesh Jai in future.[5][6][7]

Acting career

2002–2008: Debut and breakthrough

Jai made his film debut at age 18 as

Devathayai Kanden (2005), but Jai was insistent that he earn his place in the film, rather than being chosen on the basis that he was music composer Deva's nephew.[13] He instead chose to concentrate on a career in music, often working for Deva's films a keyboardist alongside his cousins, music composers Srikanth Deva and Bobo Shashi
.

His friend, the singer Yugendran, recommended Jai to audition for a role in Venkat Prabhu's directorial debut Chennai 600028 (2007), based on gully cricket. He was the only actor to be auditioned amongst the eleven lead roles and was the final selection for the film.[14] The success of the film began an association with Venkat Prabhu and Jai has repeatedly collaborated in Prabhu's ventures through leading or cameo roles. He was then selected to play a leading role by debutant director Sasikumar in Subramaniapuram (2008), after he had seen him at Deva's residence and Jai signed up for the film without hearing the script under the basis that it was to be produced by director Ameer.[13] The film, set in a Madurai village of the 1980s, told the story of a series of violent happenings on the backdrop of a love story and Jai grew a long beard to reflect the 1980s look for the project. Critics raved about Jai's performance in the film, with a reviewer noting: "Jai, as the romantic killer is the pick of the lot" and that he "lives the role".[15][16] After finding himself unable to appear in a role in Venkat Prabhu's

commercial films.[14]

2009–2010: Setback

In March 2009, Jai ran into trouble for making controversial comments about the potential box office fare of his future films that he had signed in that period. The actor, who was filming for

Lakshmi Rai and Rahman, marked his first commercial role with a critic noting: "from swift stunts to rapid dance movements, Jai has got it all". The film did not replicate the commercial success of his previous ventures, though his performance was described as "commendable".[20] Meanwhile, Adhe Neram Adhe Idam opened to unanimous negative reviews, with a reviewer noting that Jai "with his sleepy eyes looks like he really doesn't want to be in this film at all".[21]

He was then seen in Venkat Prabhu's romantic comedy Goa (2010), where he played a villager on a coming-of-age trip to Goa alongside Vaibhav Reddy and Premgi Amaren. Jai's temporary ban from films had delayed the project and he once again grew a beard to portray his character of Ramarajan. Despite positive hype surrounding the film prior to release, it only won average reviews and collections at the box office. He appeared in Aval Peyar Thamizharasi with different looks throughout the film to reflect his character's growth, with the main ones being that of an eighteen-year-old boy and a twenty-eight-year-old man. He shed weight to sport the school boy look and later added weight and muscle to look a matured man in his late twenties for the film.[22] Critics lauded Jai's performance, citing: "he shows that he is in the process of grooming himself to become a well-rounded actor" and "that he can bring in complex emotions on his face at the drop of a hat", but the film did not fare well at the box office. Similarly, his performance in the romantic film Kanimozhi was described "as endearingly likeable" and that "he had come out with a natural performance", but the film failed commercially.[23] Discussing his five consecutive failure films, Jai admitted that during that period in his career, he had chosen to feature in films without considering the true scope of its potential success, only to avoid a long gap between releases. Since then, he has actively chosen to associate himself with big banner films rather than ventures by debut production houses in order to ensure that his films are well publicized prior to release.[8]

2011–2013: Success in multi-starrers

After his string of failures, Jai signed up to play a role in

Anjali, Ananya, Jai and Sharwanand who live the role of the characters they play".[24] Jai then accepted to play a secondary role in Atlee's Raja Rani (2013), and admitted he was initially apprehensive about accepting the offer, only choosing to do so after being convinced by the film's climax. He mentioned that he wanted to portray a memorable guest role like that of Karthik in Mani Ratnam's Mouna Raagam, and worked hard to get into the skin of his character, Surya, taking close to ten takes in certain scenes.[8]
His second release of the year was the fantasy comedy Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham (2013), where Jai played a Siddha doctor who becomes deserted on an island after a bachelor party with his three friends. The film opened to mixed reviews and became an average grosser at the box office.[25][26]

2014–2020: Comedy genres

Jai carried on featuring as the lead actor, as opposed to multi-starrer films, between 2014 and 2016 albeit to limited success.

Triples is Jai’s first OTT offering and is in the form of a web-series, another first for the actor as well.[38]

2022–present

The year 2022 begins with two action films,

Sundar C.'s Coffee with Kadhal.[44]

Racing career

Jai is also a

Irungattukottai Race Track in Sriperumbudur.[45]

Filmography

Key
† Denotes films that have not yet been released
Year Film Role Notes
2002
Bhagavathi
 Guna
2007 Chennai 600028 Raghuvaran
2008 Subramaniapuram Azhagar
Saroja Himself Cameo appearance
2009 Vaamanan Anand
Adhe Neram Adhe Idam Karthik
2010 Goa Vinayagam
Aval Peyar Thamizharasi Jyothi Murugan
Kanimozhi Rajesh
Arjunan Kadhali
 Arjun Unreleased Film
2011 Ko Himself Cameo appearance
Engaeyum Eppothum Kathiresan
2013 Raja Rani Suriya Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Tamil
Naveena Saraswathi Sabatham Ramarajan
Biriyani Jai Kanth Cameo appearance
2014 Bramman Himself Cameo appearance
Vadacurry Sathish
Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah
 Vijayraghavan Chari (Abu Bakar)
2015 Valiyavan Vinod
Masss
 Kathiresan Cameo appearance
Vaalu Himself Cameo appearance
2016
Pugazh
 Pugazhendhi
Idhu Namma Aalu
 Suriya Cameo appearance
Tamilselvanum Thaniyar Anjalum Tamilselvan
Chennai 600028 II Raghuvaran
2017 Enakku Vaaitha Adimaigal Krishna
Sangili Bungili Kadhava Thorae Jai Cameo appearance
Balloon Jeeva, Charlie & Himself Triple role
2018 Kalakalappu 2 Raghu
Jarugandi Sathya
Party "Zero Error" Charlie Unreleased Film
2019 Madhura Raja Chinnan Malayalam film[46]
Neeya 2 Sarva & Vikram
Double role
Capmaari Vijay 25th Film
2022 Veerapandiyapuram Shiva Also music composer
Kuttram Kuttrame Eeswaran
Pattampoochi Sudhakar
Yenni Thuniga Kathir
Coffee With Kadhal Kathir
2023 Ghosty Spirit Cameo appearance[47]
Theera Kaadhal Gowtham [48]
Annapoorani
 Farhaan
2024 Karuppar Nagaram Filming

Web series

Year Title Role Network Notes Ref.
2020
Triples
 		Ram Kumar
Hotstar
 Debut web series [49][50]
2023 Label Prabhakaran
Hotstar

Discography

As composer
Year Film Notes
2022 Veerapandiyapuram
2022 Pattampoochi Composed one song Jail Kuthu
As singer
Year Film Song(s) Composer Notes
2018 Jarugandi "Seyiradha Senju Mudi" Bobo Shashi

References

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  2. ^ a b c Catching up with Tamil actor Jai Archived 22 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Gulf News. (19 June 2014). Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. ^ "Raja Rani does good business overseas – Indian Express". Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 28 August 2021.
  4. ^ "'Jarugandi' producer supports Jai!". Sify. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  5. ^ டீம், விகடன் (19 December 2019). ""நான் ஏழு ஆண்டுகளாக இஸ்லாம் மதத்தைப் பின்பற்றுகிறேன்!" - மனம் திறக்கும் ஜெய்". vikatan.com/ (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
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  14. ^ a b Life isn't the same – CHEN Archived 22 December 2023 at the Wayback Machine. The Hindu (6 November 2009). Retrieved 25 August 2016.
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  49. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived
    from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
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External links

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