Professionally, his films Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2 were blockbusters and he was on a high, but personally, Tamil actor Jayam Ravi was going through a rough patch and news of an impending divorce started doing the rounds in June this year. Finally on September 9, Jayam posted a statement on his social media officially announcing the dissolution of his marriage with Aarti.

In response on September 11, Aarti posted a statement on her social media handles of how this announcement was made without her ‘knowledge or consent’ and she was ‘blindsided’. In the midst of this controversy, Jayam Ravi opened up exclusively to Hindustan Times on what happened and what his future looks like.

What made you make the announcement public on September 9?

I sent Aarti two legal notices in the months before September 9, and she didn’t respond to either one of them. I was forced to make the divorce announcement public because there were so many rumours already and I am answerable to my fans. When everyone was talking about it in the media, how could I just sit quietly? I had already started legal proceedings and felt it needed to be addressed.

Were Aarti and her family not aware that you wanted a divorce like she states? Were you inaccessible to Aarti and never had a conversation with her about the divorce?

That’s absolutely not true. Both our families and she and I had a discussion about this together. Then they gave us space and she and I had a separate conversation and I told her clearly this is what I wanted. So, she was and her family were completely aware of this. After that, Aarti’s father and I had a conversation about this matter. How can they claim otherwise?

What were the circumstances under which this whole issue erupted? Where are you living now?

I don’t want to get into the details in public because that is private and will be taken up in the court of law. I have worked so hard to achieve what I have in life and listened to people (I love and care about), but I felt extremely suffocated after a point. You know, when I walked out of the house a few months back, I walked out with nothing. I just took one car. I am a nomad now (smiles).

I moved to Mumbai but I keep coming to Chennai often. In fact, I was here for my elder son Aarav’s birthday in June and I spent time with him. I am very much accessible to my children, Aarav and Ayaan. (The actor’s apartment in Chennai has become his office and he states he’s in and out of hotels as he travels around).

Have you spoken to your children about the divorce?

Yes, I have. Aarav is 14 years old and he can understand so I explained the whole situation to him. Ayaan is just eight and too small to understand.

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