At a very early age Jai Sampath made his acting debut in Kollywood. And he made his film debut alongside superstar Thalapathy Vijay at the age of 16. Jai played a supporting role in Bagavathi, his debut film that released in 2002, but his striking similarity to Vijay shot him to fame. Jai was supposed to play the lead role in his next film that would have been a remake of the Tollywood flick, 6 Teens. However, that project never kicked-off. Jai, nephew of Devanesan Chokkalingam who is also known as Deva, was also inclined towards music other than films. Madhura Raja New Poster: Not Prithviraj Sukumaran but Jai Sampath to Share Screen Space With Mammootty.

Before Jai played his first lead role, he had rejected many offers. Jai never wanted roles because he is music composer Deva’s nephew, he wanted to earn his place in the industry with his own efforts and share of work. So the handsome hunk decided to focus in music and he even started to work as keyboardist in films of which the music was composed by Deva. And then in 2007, Jai bagged his first lead role. On his birthday, let’s take a look at those five films of Jai that is a must watch.

Chennai 600028

Chennai 600028 was special because it marked Venkat Prabhu’s directorial debut and it was also Jai’s first film as a lead actor. This film based on gully cricket was a huge hit, and this actor – director combo became a frequent one in Kollywood. Jai and Venkat teamed up for numerous projects after it.

Goa

Goa was another commercially successful and a mass entertainer flick in which Jai, Vaibhav Reddy and Premji Amaren played the lead roles. With this film, Jai and Venkat Prabhu teamed up for the third time. Jai played the role of a young, rebellious lad who hails from village in Tamil Nadu, runs to Goa with his friends to marry an American girl.

Engaeyum Eppothum

Before Engaeyum Eppothum happened, Jai did see some ups and downs in his career. His films started to tank at the box office, and that’s when in 2011 Tamil debutant director M Saravanan’s project happened. Jai portrayed the role of a timid working class professional in this film that marked AR Murugadoss' debut as a producer.

Raja Rani

Jai was then seen in Atlee’s directorial project, Raja Rani, in which he played a secondary role. Jai decided to sign the dotted lines because he was impressed with the film’s climax and also wanted fans to remember his character.

Jarugandi

Jai, Reba Monica John and Amit Tiwari starrer Jarugandi did not mint numbers at the box office as expected. It is a special film because it marked Jai’s debut as a singer. He had crooned the track, “Seyiradha Senju Mudi”.

So these are the five films of Jai Sampath that you must watch. Here’s wishing Kollywood’s favourite actor a successful career ahead. Happy Birthday, Jai!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 06, 2020 08:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).