‘I got a call from my production house. ‘Rajikanth sir is calling to meet you.’- I was shocked for a while. Hey, I even asked him ‘You’re not kidding me?!’- because I couldn’t believe that Rajinikanth sir himself had called me. I have been his fan since childhood and fans in South consider him as God, but when I went to meet him it was quite the opposite. When Rajni went to Sir, he said, ‘A very down-to-earth man, very easy and simple nature, sitting in front of him, no one would say that this will be such a big superstar. Seeing him, I felt like being in the presence of a ‘Yogi’. If you meet a yogi, you get a different positive energy, a different ‘Aura’ experience. Well, that’s how I felt when I met Rajni sir. Rajni sir’s words to me at that meeting were ‘Finally, South Industry got a handsome villain…’ – and since then everyone in the South Industry has known me as ‘Handsome Villain’. It has become my ‘tagline’ because of Rajni sir.
Dholiwood to Tollywood via Mumbai
Chirag’s official entry was directly from South Industry (Tollywood). If a Gujarati actor wants to go out of Gujarat, he goes to Bollywood, but why did Chirag go straight to Tollywood? Asked about it, he says, ‘Professionalism is much higher in the South. People there don’t just work for money, there are really talented people in the industry, so I already had a passion for working in the South industry. I used to audition only for South Industry.’
Sitting in front of us talking this ‘chirag jaani’…naam to suna hi hoga?…. what? Not heard? If you haven’t, you may regret it after reading this article. There is a belief in our minds that the homeboy is not appreciated unless he brings validation from outside. Chirag is currently burning in the South. Big producers are clamoring to cast Chirag in their films. Big superstars like Rajinikanth, Surya, Ravi Teja are also keen to cast Chirag in their films, but as he has not worked only in Bollywood, we still don’t know this young man from Gujarati and Kodinar. We have a belief there that it is impossible to get entry in films without support and background, there is a lot of nepotism, but look at Chirag in the middle of it all… It is said that in South it is easy to be a hero but more difficult to be a villain… Chirag Jani was interviewed today by ‘Divya Bhaskar’ app to know all these things. So let’s know the new and unknown gossip of the film industry from Chirag itself…
‘Try on your own clothes!’
Talking about his ‘film journey’, Chirag says, ‘I come from a very middle class family. I studied ‘Shah M’ in Kodinar till class 12. like this.’ I studied in high school. Later he also did his graduation from a government college. There was a Municipal College in Kodinar named, ‘Kodinar Municipal College of Arts and Commerce’. But I was fond of fashion designing, so I shifted to Ahmedabad and went there and started fashion designing course. After working there for a while, a friend told me, ‘You look so handsome, wear those designer clothes and try your hand at modeling…’ – I had the desire too, who wouldn’t? I tried, luck also supported me and my modeling became a hit. Meanwhile, ‘Mr. Gujarat’ competition was going on in Gujarat, so I participated in it and I won but…’
‘I don’t have any fashion shows or brand photoshoots left’
The lamp was not contained in the fist, it had to be held in the sky. As soon as he became ‘Mr Gujarat’, now he got the ghost of Mumbai. Chirag left Mumbai to advance his career. Wait, let’s hear from Chirag himself about his next trip, ‘I left Ahmedabad for Mumbai. I had already won ‘Mr Gujarat’ so I was confident. I went to Mumbai and participated in all the fashion shows, like ‘Lakmi’, ‘Indian Fashion Week’, etc… I did all the famous fashion shows. All the top fashion brands have done photoshoots. Later I got a TV ad for the first time and my acting career started.’
I used to hear the same line every day, ‘Are you a Gujarati? We’ll call you later!’
Now Chirag’s acting journey had already started. Chirag’s focus was now only on becoming an actor, but since we are Gujarati, our Hindi also has Gujarati touches… Same thing happened to Chirag. Chirag says, ‘Wherever I went to give an audition, when I spoke the first line, people would tell me that you are a Gujarati, right? Because I was a Gujarati and Kathiawadi means complete. So first I started improving my Hindi. Started speaking Hindi alone at home, listening and speaking to everyone else. Speaking in front of the mirror, recording and listening, I improved my Hindi. Ever since I started auditioning. I had only one routine. Waking up in the morning, going to auditions and going everywhere in Mumbai wherever the auditions are going on. Thus, since I came to Mumbai, I gave 800-900 auditions in 6 months. And finally I got a chance in a serial. The serial was ‘Sapne Suhane Ladkapan Ke’.
Acted in a Tamil film without learning Tamil
Chirag’s acting career had already started with the serial. Talking about it, Chirag says, ‘Then he did 10 to 12 TV shows like ‘Poras’, ‘Vighnaharta Ganesh’, ‘CID’, ‘Ahat’, ‘Shapath’ etc. Meanwhile, a South film was being shot in Mumbai. Suddenly one of his characters had to go somewhere. So those people were auditioning for a character. So I went there and auditioned and boom… I got selected.’ One minute, let me tell you another fun thing. Chirag had already got a role in a Tamil film and was supposed to speak dialogues, but he did not know Tamil at all. He says about it that ‘I did not know Tamil at all. So first I brought the dialogue from those people, after hearing that dialogue I wrote it in Gujarati language. Language Tamil can also be read in Gujarati. Then I went to one of the heroes and said, you tell me this dialogue with the expression and I watched it, went home and practiced and even acted in the film.’- Yeh Hui Na Baat…
‘Learned Tamil in a month and played the main villain’
Chirag had now got the South Industry banner. In the very first film, he left his mark in the South industry. Chirag further states, ‘The biggest advantage of the South industry is that it prioritizes talent first. After my first film, I got an offer for another film, but this time the director called me a month before the film and said, ‘You have to play the main villain in this film and for that you have to learn the language.’- He was the hero in the film. Superstar ‘Surya’. I went home and started working immediately and learned Tamil within a month. The name of the film was ‘Kappan’ and the Hindi dubbed of the film was ‘Rowdy Rakshak’. I got a chance to work with Surya in that film.’
‘This is the great feature of the hero of the South’
We asked Chirag, ‘It was his second film with Surya, so how was the experience with him?’ Chirag says, ‘I have already been a fan of Surya. I already like his acting a lot. When I first met him, I was a bit hesitant because he is such a big superstar and I don’t even know anyone in the industry. Above all, in this film, it was not only the villain who gets beaten up, but the villain also beats up the hero a lot. I was also afraid that how can I kill him? But he supported me a lot. How to speak Tamil? He also taught me how to express. One of the characteristics of South films is that the actors there play most of the scenes themselves. Dummies are kept in some cases, when the scene is too risky. Even in this, Surya never allows a dummy to act, he always insists that I will do the action. Even if the director refuses, he will give action to the dummy only in 5% cases.’
‘Who is this boy in the role of villain? send it to me’
Chirag played the role of the main villain in the film, but after this film, Chirag was going to get a big shake. Chirag recalls that day, ‘The production house under which our film was shot, already worked with Rajinikanth sir. So before my film was released, my film was screened for Rajinikanth as well. After watching my film, Rajnikanth immediately asked those people, ‘Who is this boy in the role of the villain? Send it to me.’- I got a call from my production house. Rajinikanth sir calls to meet you. I was shocked for a while. Hey, I even asked him, ‘You’re not kidding me, are you?’ Because I could not believe that Rajinikanth sir himself had called to meet me. I have been his fan since childhood and he is considered a god in South, but when I went to meet him it was quite the opposite. If you go to Rajini sir, a very down to earth man, very plain and simple nature, if you sit in front of him, no one would say that this will be such a big superstar. Seeing him, I felt like being in the presence of a yogi. If you meet a yogi why you get a different positive energy, I felt the same after meeting Rajni sir. Rajini sir told me that ‘Finally, South Industry got a handsome villain.’ -And since then my impression of the ‘handsome villain’ has fallen.’
Best Villain of South Industry… Award goes to… Chirag Jani…
Not only this, he got another such big film, but also in the same film he also got the South Industry’s ‘Best Villain’ award of that year. We asked Chirag, who hailed from a small village in Saurashtra and made waves in the South film industry, how did he feel when he received the award? Talking about the thrill, Chirag says, ‘My name was nominated, so I was invited to the award ceremony. I went to the award ceremony, but I didn’t think I would get the award, because the names of the people with me were all big superstar villains from South, but when the winner’s name was called, I was totally shocked! Because I had already won the award. For a while I couldn’t believe it.’
‘My father was not there to see my success, which I have always regretted’
Chirag Jani currently lives in Mumbai, but his family is from Kodinar. Talking about his family, Chirag says that ‘My father is not alive now. At home are my mom, my elder brother and elder sister, both of them are married. is settled. My father has supported me a lot in my career. He had faith in me, he told me, ‘Son, do what you have to do. We are sitting.’- I would not be here today if my parents had not been so supportive, but my biggest regret is that my father was not alive when the award was given. My dad was so supportive of my career, but I always regret that he wasn’t around to see my first film.’
Saw the movie for the first time in a theater at the age of 18
The actor, who won an award in the second film in South films, was not even fond of acting since childhood. In his childhood, he was only fond of singing. Chirag says about his childhood that ‘I grew up in Kodinar. At that time, Kodinar was a very small village and was only a Gram Panchayat. Now it has become a little big city. So there was no theater in our village. I saw a movie for the first time in a theater when I turned 18. That too in our neighboring city Veraval…’
‘After doing 2 films, never had to give an audition’
Despite being an outsider and having no background, Chirag has received a great response in the South industry, Chirag says the biggest advantage of the South industry is that ‘the biggest advantage of the South industry is that if you have talent, they approach you from the front. Take my own example, after getting 2 films, I have never given an audition till now.’
‘He is also an outsider like me so he supported me a lot’
Ravi Teja has been Chirag’s biggest supporter in films… Talking about him, Chirag says, ‘Some time ago I did a movie with Ravi Teja ‘Crack’. Telugu is a very big superstar but he sported me a lot in the film. That man is very down to earth. He was an outsider like me, which is why he knew my situation and supported me a lot… He always told me that ‘like you, I also came from the outside, you work hard, you will go far.’ After finishing my film with him, another film of his was starting ‘Dhamaka’. So Ravi Teja sir himself gave my name to its director saying, ‘This boy can be set as the villain in this film. You talk to them once.’ Now you think that such a big superstar would suggest the name of an outsider to the director. Ravi Teja has always been my favorite co-actor. This is why I already went to South Industry.’
‘Gujarati industry’s failure both makers and audience to blame’
Chirag has done 2 films in Gujarati along with South. So we asked Chirag, ‘What is the main difference between Gujarati industry and South industry?’ Chirag says that ‘The big difference in the Gujarati industry is that those people do not come out of comedy and cannot come, because if they do, they do not even get a response from the audience, money sinks. If we talk about the budget, there is no comparison between the two industries. The entire budget of a Gujarati film is spent in one day of South film shooting. One of the reasons behind the failure is that people don’t go to watch Gujarati movies for 2-3 weeks after their release. Even after that, if it works, then they go to watch it as a hit movie, so the Gujarati film does not work’.
‘Gujarati film industry rotates only 4-5 actors, does not give chance to new actors’
While our conversation about the Gujarati industry was going on, Chirag highlighted one more fact saying that ‘Gujarati industry only turns 4-5 actors. New actors are not given a chance. There are many good new actors in Gujarat too, but those people don’t give chance to others. If given a chance, Gujarati films will get a new life and the audience will also get something new.’
1 actor, 2 industries, 6 languages and 18 films
We asked Chirag, who is at the top of the South industry with no background in acting alone, ‘Have you done any course for acting?’- Chirag smiled and said, ‘No, not at all. I used to give so many auditions. That was my training. That’s what I learned from.’- He has done films in many languages so far, we asked Kathiawadi Chirag how many languages do you know and how many films have you done? About this, Chirag says that ‘If we talk about languages, now I know Gujarati, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam languages and in all these languages I have done a total of 19 films.’
‘If Gujarati films are limited enough in acting, your career will be limited’
Our next question was, ‘If an actor is confined to the Gujarati industry only, can it be said that he will not grow enough?’ Chirag affirms yes and says, ‘Certainly, as I mentioned earlier, new actors do not get much support in the Gujarati industry. Those people give very less chance to new actors. So if you are limited to Gujarati, you will not be able to make a good career.’
Can social media contribute to a debut in the film industry?
Currently, there is a trend going on in the Gujarati industry that people are casting only social media stars in movies. In this regard, we asked Chirag, ‘What do you think? How important is social media to enter the film industry?’- Chirag says after his experience as an award winner in Mumbai and South Industry, ‘Social media can make you famous, but if you want to work in films, I don’t think social media is necessary. Media plays an important role. Even if you have 1 million followers on social media, it doesn’t make any difference for a debut in the film industry.’
Bhakhri’s lamp is a lamp
Gujaratis are delicious, so we even asked Chirag, ‘What is your favorite Gujarati food?’ Hearing this, the first word in Chirag’s mouth was, ‘Bhakhri’… Bhakhri is my favourite. Apart from that, ‘save tomato vegetable’, ‘paratha’ etc… but bhakhri has always been my favourite, because even when I was a child, bhakri was made at home once a day.’
Dholiwood to Tollywood via Mumbai
Chirag’s official entry was directly from South Industry (Tollywood). If a Gujarati actor wants to go out of Gujarat, he goes to Bollywood, but why did Chirag go straight to Tollywood? Asked about it, he says, ‘Professionalism is much higher in the South. People there don’t just work for money, there are really talented people in the industry, so I already had a passion for working in the South industry. I used to audition only for South Industry.’
