The family story

May is the month that superstar Suriya takes off to the US to spend quality time with his family but this time, the actor chose Kerala for his week-long vacation, spending time with Jyothika and kids at Kumarakom and Fort Kochi among other places. This was his way of saying thanks to Kerala for the respect that he received as a producer for the film 36 Vayadhinile (the Tamil remake of How Old Are You), which saw the successful comeback of his wife Jyothika. Suriya cannot speak enough of Rosshan Andrrews and says, “We went through a lot of learning and unlearning and though the story was slightly modified for the Tamil audience, he did not let the core go away. I am now waiting for the next Rosshan Andrrews script.”

An actor who shed his chocolate hero image by taking up unconventional roles, Suriya has earned a place in the industry in his own right and not as Sivakumar’s son. Now, he is tackling the spooky comedy genre for the first time through the film Masss directed by Venkat Prabhu. Suriya mentions, “I do not want to reveal too much about the plot except that I play two characters and play a conman.” The film has him in stylish attires and arresting action shots.

Though Suriya had come to Kochi to talk about his film Masss, topic shifts to Jyothika’s comeback. Suriya was instrumental in making Jyothika don the greasepaint again after a long hiatus. In an exclusive chat, he candidly reveals the changes that Jyothika has brought about in him. He admits, “Because of the person that Jo is, I was able to learn a lot of things and become a better person! She made me realise that I don’t have many friends and told me that it is not necessary that I have only my school and college friends but that at any time anybody who I support and give time to can become my friend. The way I behave with my staff, my siblings and my directors; there was a new learning because of Jo!”

The usually quiet Suriya can be very loquacious when he speaks about Jyothika. “As a husband, for the first three years, I thought that I was the best guy and I am loving her so much and doing so much for her. Usually after a shoot, I spend an hour with her and that’s when we talk and she makes me understand what her life is. She has been an even more successful actor than me and she left the film industry and walked into matrimony when she was on top. But everything changed after marriage; she was being the best mother but after five years, when my son had become independent, there was a vacuum and I wanted her to start something like a kid’s activity centre. But within her that acting talent was always there and we were looking for a good script and this film was a Godsend!”

Coincidentally, it was in Kochi itself after a press meet that the DVD of HOAY was handed over to Suriya. Though the couple has acted together in commercials, he reveals that a script from Malayali filmmakers is being written with them in mind.

Suriya touches on the paucity of women-oriented scripts and mentions that he would be more than happy to produce or work with such scripts. Asked if it would be possible to see Karthi, Jyothika and himself in a film, he frankly states, “I basically don’t like a family film. I would like to see us as characters and not as brother and wife on screen but if we can camouflage behind a character, then why not?” Suriya has been watching the trailers of Malayalam films and wants to catch up on Oru Vadakkan Selfie and Chandrettan Evideyya?