Vikram Ravichandran: I want people who did not see my first film to get to know the actor in me with my web series

Direct-to-OTT content is not high up on the list of priorities for most Kannada actors. They can’t be blamed - streamers have also not shown much interest in content from the region, which is why theatrical releases are still a big deal for the industry. So, it comes as quite a surprise when a platform not only announces a new Kannada web series, but one that stars Crazy Star Ravichandran’s son Vikram in the lead, along with Aditi Prabhudeva. Love You Abhi is dropping on Jio Cinema today, May 19, and will be available to stream for free.

The series, as it turns out, is Vikram’s second offering for audiences, after his debut Trivikrama, which did not give him the start he was hoping for. “Trivikrama taught me that I needed to restart my journey in showbiz and work much harder than I did before. My only motive is to reach the hearts of my audience and if I have reached 10% of them with my first film, the next step is to grow that to 40% at least,” he says.

Vikram explains that his logic behind doing a web series as his second project is that as an actor, he wants audiences to come to theatres and OTT rights is a good revenue avenue for a producer. “If my OTT market is good, it will be good for anyone investing money on a film with me. Also, I know that 80% of people have not watched Trivikrama. How do I grab their attention to tell them that I am an actor who is good at my work? I want to understand why they don’t feel that I am passionate enough to do a good film and tell them to come to theatres and for that, I am presenting them a teaser of sorts of who and what I am with Love You Abhi. Right now, there are people who will come to theatres to watch me dance or fight. But at the end of the day, you need a different set of head count in theatres and for that, your acting needs to be good and your passion has to reflect,” says Vikram.

The actor adds that today, audiences like him are waiting for films that, say, a Rakshit Shetty or a Raj B Shetty do, because they have understood how passionate and sensible these filmmaker-actors are. “I want to show this 80% of the audience that I am also passionate and trying to be sensible as soon as possible. Thereby, if I had 25 house full shows of Trivikrama, for my next, Mudhol, I want that to be 32 at least. I am not gunning for 45, if it happens, well and good. If you don’t want to come to theatres and see my face, at least sit at home and watch my series. If you don’t like that also, it’s fine, but at least you will get to know me,” reasons Vikram.

All seven episodes of Love You Abhi, a thriller with a love story at its crux, are currently available to stream on Jio Cinema.