Ravi Mohan

Ravi Mohan (born 10 September 1980), better known by his former stage name Jayam Ravi, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. The son of veteran film editor A. Mohan, Ravi made his lead acting debut in Jayam (2003), the success of which prompted the title to become a prefix to his stage name until 2025.^[1] He has won one Tamil Nadu State Film Award and one Filmfare Award South and three SIIMA Awards respectively.

Ravi Mohan
Ravi at Naya Gadget Shop Launch
Born	Ravi Mohan (1980-09-10) 10 September 1980 (age 44) Tirumangalam, Tamil Nadu, India
Other names	Jayam Ravi
Alma mater	Loyola College, Chennai
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–Present
Spouse	Aarthi ​ (m. 2009)​
Children	2
Relatives	Editor Mohan (father) Mohan Raja (brother)

The success of Jayam made Ravi continue to collaborate with his brother for other films including M. Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi (2004), Unakkum Enakkum (2006), Santhosh Subramaniam (2008) and Thani Oruvan (2015).

Early life and family

Ravi Mohan was born as M. Ravi in Tirumangalam, Madurai.^[2] His father is Editor Mohan, a Tamil Muslim Rowther,^[3] while his mother is a Telugu from Hyderabad. His elder brother, Mohan Raja, is a film director, with most of his films featuring Ravi in the lead role, while his sister, Roja, is a dentist. Ravi grew up in both Chennai and Hyderabad. He completed his schooling at Jawahar Vidyalaya in Ashok Nagar, Chennai. He studied dancing under the Bharatnatyam dancer Nalini Balakrishnan and performed his arangetram at the age of 12. After completing his degree in Visual Communication from Loyola College, Chennai, he decided to get into the film industry. He also trained in acting at the Kishore Namit Kapur Institute in Mumbai.^[4][5] Before debuting as an actor, Ravi had been an assistant director to Suresh Krishna for Aalavandhan (2001), starring Kamal Haasan.^[6]

Acting career

1989–2008: Debut and success

Ravi acted as a child actor in three films including two Telugu films: Oru Thottil Sabadham (1989), Bava Bavamaridi (1993) and Palnati Pourusham (1993), which were all produced by his father.^[2][7]

Ravi made his lead acting debut in the action-masala film Jayam, produced by his father and directed by his brother Mohan Raja. It was a remake of the 2002 Telugu film of the same name. His next venture was the sentimental drama M. Kumaran Son Of Mahalakshmi (2004), the remade version of the Telugu film Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi, in which he starred alongside Asin Thottumkal. Of Ravi's performance, a critic from Sify wrote that he "makes you want to see more of him",^[8] while The Hindu's Malathi Rangarajan noted that he came out with an "appreciable portrayal throughout".^[9] The film, considered a family entertainer, received the Tamil Nadu State Film Special Award for Best Film and fetched Ravi himself the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor.^[10] It also emerged a financial success and he changed his stage name to Jayam Ravi.^[11]

His next release, Daas (2005), a romantic action,^[12][13] featured him as a football player.^[14] The film took an even bigger opening than his previous ones.^[15] Sify's reviewer described his performance as "impressive", calling Ravi a "hundred percent convincing as an action hero".^[16] Mazhai, a remake of the Telugu film Varsham, was his other release that year, which was "lukewarm" at the box office.^[17] In 2006, he starred in Saran's Idhaya Thirudan, which performed poorly at the box office,^[18] following which, he acted in Unakkum Enakkum (initially released and promoted as Something Something Unakkum Enakkum), again under his brother's direction in another remake of a Telugu film Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana. Ravi portrayed a rich, happy-go-lucky NRI from London, who has to live and fight for his love in dire conditions in a rural milieu.^[19] The film, which featured Trisha Krishnan alongside Ravi, became a high critical as well as financial success,^[20] emerging one of the highest-grossing and most-profitable films of the year.^[21][22] The N. Linguswamy-produced Deepavali under Ezhil's direction was released on 2007.^[23]

In 2008, Ravi appeared in three films. Following a cameo appearance in Velli Thirai, he acted in the family drama Santhosh Subramaniam, once again under his brother's direction in a remake. In the Tamil version of the 2006 Telugu film Bommarillu, starring opposite Genelia D'Souza, he played a young man, whose choices and wishes are continually subdued by his father.^[24] Ravi received a nomination for the Best Tamil Actor Award at the 56th Filmfare Awards South. Next, he starred in the action thriller Dhaam Dhoom, directed by cinematographer-director Jeeva, who died in the midst of the film's shooting in Russia.^[25] Completed by Jeeva's assistant Manikandan, his wife Aneez Tanveer and his guru P. C. Sreeram, Dhaam Dhoom released in mid-2008 in which he portrayed Gautham Subramaniyam, a man accused in a murder he did not commit.^[26] Sify's reviewer wrote that he was "simply amazing in his role", label the film as an "out and out Jayam Ravi movie".^[26]

2009–2019: Action and comedy roles

In 2009, Ravi starred in the action-adventure film Peranmai. In 2010, he starred in the action-comedy Thillalangadi, a remake of the 2009 Telugu-language film Kick. In 2011, he starred in the romantic drama Engeyum Kaadhal. In 2013, he starred in the action film Ameerin Aadhi-Bhagavan. In 2014, he starred in the action film Nimirndhu Nil, which was also shot simultaneously in Telugu as Janda Pai Kapiraju with Nani in the lead.^[27]

Ravi seen with his fans at an event

In 2015, Ravi appeared in four films: the romantic comedy Romeo Juliet, the action-comedy Sakalakala Vallavan, the action-thriller Thani Oruvan (directed by his brother Mohan Raja) and the sports action film Bhooloham. In 2016, he starred in the action-horror film Miruthan revolving around a zombie apocalypse. In 2017, he appeared in the action-thriller Bogan (reuniting with actor Arvind Swami after Thani Oruvan) and the action-adventure film Vanamagan.^[28]

In 2018, he starred in the sci-fi action film Tik Tik Tik (considered as India's first space film)^[29] and the action-thriller Adanga Maru. In 2019, he made a cameo in the adventure film Thumbaa and starred as the lead in the comedy film Comali.^[30]

2021–present: Professional expansion

After a two-year absence from the big screen, Ravi made his debut on OTT platforms with his 25th film, Bhoomi, in 2021. The film was initially supposed to release in theatres but was instead released on OTT due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.^[31] In 2022, he was seen in Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan as Arulmozhivarman who later became the Chola Emperor Raja Raja Chola.^[32] The second part was Ponniyin Selvan: II released in 2023.^[33] He appeared in the revenge film Siren,^[34] followed by the comedy drama film Brother,^[35] which was released in theatres on October 31, 2024, and digitally on ZEE5 on November 29, 2024.^[36]

Personal life

Ravi Mohan married Aarthi, daughter of film producer Sujatha Vijayakumar, in 2009.^[37] They have two sons, Aarav and Ayaan. Aarav appeared in the film Tik Tik Tik (2018).^[38][39] Ravi and Aarthi separated in 2024, with Ravi filing for divorce, and about a month later in January 2025 he changed his stage name to his real name Ravi Mohan.^[40][41][1]

Filmography

• All films are in Tamil, unless otherwise noted.

List of Ravi Mohan films and roles

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1989	Oru Thottil Sabadham	—	child artist[2]
1993	Bava Bavamaridi	Young Raju	Telugu film, child artist[7]
1994	Palnati Pourusham	Young Bheemineni Brahmanna	Telugu film, child artist[7]
2003	Jayam	Ravi	credited as Ravi M.
2004	M. Kumaran Son of Mahalakshmi	M. Kumaran
2005	Daas	Antony Daas
	Mazhai	Arjun
2006	Idhaya Thirudan	Mahesh Aalwar
	Unakkum Enakkum	Santhosh
2007	Deepavali	Billu Mudaliar
2008	Velli Thirai	Himself	Guest appearance
	Santhosh Subramaniyam	Santhosh Subramaniyam
	Dhaam Dhoom	Gautham Subramaniam
2009	Peranmai	Dhuruvan
2010	Thillalangadi	Krishna
2011	Ko	Himself	Guest appearance
	Engeyum Kadhal	Kamal
2013	Aadhi Bhagavan	Aadhi Shanmugam, Baghavan Bhai[a]	Dual role
2014	Ninaithathu Yaaro	Himself	Guest appearance
	Nimirndhu Nil	Aravindan Sivasamy, Narasimha Reddy[a]	Dual role
2015	Janda Pai Kapiraju	Himself	Telugu film; Guest appearance
	Romeo Juliet	Karthik
	Sakalakala Vallavan	Shakthi
	Thani Oruvan	ASP Mithran IPS
	Bhooloham	Bhooloham
2016	Miruthan	SI Karthik
2017	Bogan	ACP Vikram IPS
	Vanamagan	Jara (Vaasi)
2018	Tik Tik Tik	M. Vasudevan (Vasu)
	Adanga Maru	SI Subhash
2019	Thumbaa	John	Cameo
	Comali	Ravi
2021	Bhoomi	Bhoominathan	25th Film
2022	Ponniyin Selvan: I	Arulmozhi Varman
2023	Agilan	Agilan, Nandha[a]
	Ponniyin Selvan: II	Arulmozhi Varman	[42]
	Iraivan	ACP Arjun IPS	[43]
2024	Siren	Thilagan
	Brother	Karthik Kumarasamy	[44]
2025	Kadhalika Neramillai	Siddharth "Sid"
	Karathey Babu †	K. Shanmugam Babu (Karathey Babu)	Filming[45]
	Parasakthi †	TBA	Filming
	Genie †	Faizal/Genie	Filming
2026	Thani Oruvan 2 †	ASP Mithran IPS	Announced

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Television

Year	Name of Television Show	Role	Network
2024	Super Singer Season 10	Guest	Star Vijay
	Jodi Are U Ready

As dubbing artist

• Newtonin Moondram Vidhi (2009) (Dubbed for Rajiv Krishna)

Awards and nominations

Year	Category	Award	Film	Result	Ref.
2004	Best Actor	Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	M. Kumaran Son Of Mahalakshmi	Won	[46]
2008	Best Actor	Vijay Awards	Santosh Subramaniam	Nominated	[47]
	Best Actor – Tamil	Filmfare Awards South		Nominated	[47]
2009	Best Actor	Edison Awards	Peranmai	Won	[48]
	Best Actor	Vijay Awards		Nominated
	Best Actor – Tamil	Filmfare Awards South		Nominated	[49]
2015	Most Romantic Star of South Indian Cinema	SIIMA Awards	Romeo Juliet	Won	[50]
	Best Actor	Edison Awards	Thani Oruvan	Won	[51]
	Performance In A Leading Role – Male	IIFA Utsavam		Won	[52]
	Best Actor (Critics) – South	Filmfare Awards		Won	[53]
	Best Actor – Tamil	Filmfare Awards South		Nominated	[54]
	Best Actor	SIIMA Awards		Nominated
	Best Actor (Critics)			Won	[55]
	Best Actor	Vikatan Awards	Bhooloham	Won	[56]
2018	Best Actor - Tamil	Filmfare Awards South	Adanga Maru	Nominated	[57]
	Best Actor (Critics)	SIIMA Awards		Won	[58]
	Best Actor			Nominated	[59]

Notes

1. Jayam Ravi played two characters.