YOUNG, smart and attractive – Ravin Rao Santheran is the one to watch in the year 2020. He may only be 26 years old, but Ravin has already acted in 46 film projects, including 28 short films, four feature films planned for release this year, four telemovies, seven television shows and two advertisements.
“I still feel that I haven’t done anything yet. I feel that I have a long way to go, and I have to improve myself a lot. I wake up every day and I see myself as a beginner. I just tell myself I haven’t achieved anything yet, so I will learn new things,” said Ravin.
“The numbers may look like a lot, but for me, [it feels like] I have just started running,” he added.
In fact, “running” is part of Ravin’s life. The Taiping-born lad’s parents are both running athletes. Mother S. Nokalmah Sanasee represented Malaysia in the SEA Games, while father V. Santheran Veloo participates in marathon or long-distance running and has run in the Sukma Games.
What inspired you to become an actor?
“When I was five years old, I [watched a musical scene from] a Tamil movie titled Thullatha Manamum Thullum and I started to dance. That was the first time I was exposed to the cinema. I wanted to be an actor.
“[Indian] actor Vijay, who starred in the movie, is an inspiration to me. [He] inspired me a lot, especially when I went through a bad phase in life.”
How did you get into acting?
“I started making short films with my friends. We made three short films. The first is titled Gopeng, the second is Not On Our Watch and the third is Marupakkam [which] is about a nerd who is bullied and pushed into depression. After that, I worked with Joel Raj in a short film titled Choice.
“I worked with a few directors such as Somakanthan and Karthik Shamalan (for a television series titled Kalvanai Kandupudi). I also just wrapped a feature film titled Hero friend-u.”
How did you feel when you first faced the camera?
“To be honest, I did not feel afraid. After that, I looked at the final outcome ... [and] I felt that I was not a good actor.
“Then I thought: ‘I need to improve myself’. I started to practise a lot. I acted out my roles in front of the mirror. I knew that I had to improve myself if I wanted to be an actor. I started to hone my acting skills, and learned through experience.”
What kind of challenges do you face as an actor?
“I don’t feel or view anything as a challenge. We have the engineering industry, the architecture industry, [and] cinema is also an industry. If an engineer wants to [construct] a building or an architect wants to design a building, he has his own challenges to face.
“I can’t say that I am facing even bigger challenges than them. This is my job scope as an actor. If I have to play a role, then, I have to put in the hard work.
“I don’t see it as a challenge. I view it as an experience because it is my job to play the role.”
What do you love about being an actor?
“What I love about being an actor is that I get to fill many different shoes. Whenever I get into different characters, I get to feel them and I get to explore what they feel. That is what made me realise that everyone has their own personality and character.
“As an actor, it gives me a chance to get into [other] people’s shoes. That is what I love about being an actor, I get to explore [and] feel the characters, and explore myself. When I get into a role, I get to feel how the other person would react. I would react differently, but that character will react [in their own way].
“To date, I have done 46 projects and I have been in 46 shoes. Acting made me learn about people and helped me, personally.
“For example [in] one of my feature films, the character I played did not have any money and resorted to committing a criminal act – pick-pocketing – but his wallet is picked by another person, who also has a financial problem.
“This made me realise that in Malaysia, there are people who are ‘suffocating’ (suffering) while living life, daily. When I reflected on this, I realised that I am not suffering as much, as I am living a [relatively] normal life.
“Another advantage of being an actor is that I get to experiment with many looks, styles and body language. That is one thing that I love.”
Share with us your experience in making short films.
“I made a lot of mistakes in acting, camera angles and direction. It was a group effort, and all my friends were directors. We didn’t even have lighting. Acting-wise, I made a lot of mistakes.
“But thank God [that] I made all those mistakes, because I learned the proper way, in front of the camera.”
