A Tete-a-tete with Two Rising Sandalwood Stars - Darshan and Adtiya
BG Mohandas - Gulf Varthe
Sujay Bendur - Daijiworld
Dubai, Nov 6: Two youthful heroes of Kannada screen, Darshan Toogudeepa Srinivas and Aditya Rajendra Singh Babu, were accorded a traditional welcome and felicitated by the Karnataka Sangha in a very befitting manner during the Rajyotsava celebration hosted by the Sangha in Dubai.
As the name suggests they are the sons of two late great personalities of Sandalwood. Gulfvarthe and daijiworld team caught up with this new generation heroes at Regent Palace on Saturday November 4, 2006 evening for a heart-to-heart chat on various issues plaguing the Kannada film industry.
Here is what Darshan and Aditya said in a tete-a-tete:
The dynamic hero Darshan has conquered the pivotal position in Kannada after a long struggle in life. Son of veteran actor Toogudeepa Srinivas, Darshan had been kept away from films during his lifetime by his father. But destiny drew him to films in early 1990's. Having joined the Ninasam theatre group, he started dreaming higher. Today he is the winning horse. However, this has not come by so easily for him.
He says since his school days he had been nursing a passion to be a part of the film industry. From the age of fourteen, much against his father's wishes, somehow he took up all smaller jobs in the film industry. Beginning his profession as a camera assistant, to be termed 'Box office Badshah' requires a lot of sacrifice, hard work and dedication.
"That is true," says the handsome hero with a smile. "I joined the Ninasam theatre group to learn the technical aspects of film-making. I evinced interest in cinematography. As camera assistant I have worked for a few films. Then I was offered a small role in 'Mahabharatha' Kannada film by director S Narayan. It was in 1993. That later brought me to this stage today."
Actors with B G Mohandas
His 25 th movie was 'Bhoopati' where he played grandson to veteran actor K S Ashwath and he rates 'Ayya' as his best film.
It was a pleasant surprise for us to learn that the dashing Darshan was already married and that too 8 years ago!.
"She was my relative also. Before marriage, we were in love for a long time. She was in the third semester of Chemical Engineering when I got married to her. I asked her to complete the remaining semesters after marriage," he says with a sparkling smile".
Darshan becomes emotional when asked about the difficult days of his life…"I remember my elder sister once took Rs 100 from my brother-in-law's pocket and gave me and my brother. Now I earn lacs but the memory of those 100rupees does not fade away. That was 'sachcha pyaar' and I would never forget the olden days of struggle."
Auditya (Aditya), unlike his buddy, was relatively lucky to have been launched by his father, an acclaimed director, S V Rajendra Singh Babu.
Speaking on his first movie 'Love', Aditya narrates….
"My dad wanted the best set-up to introduce me as an actor and 'Love' had all the ingredients to be a winner,"
With Sujay Bendur
Aditya who had early education in Mysore is an Arts graduate from St Josephs' College, Bangalore. He was into ramp modeling in Mumbai after completing his studies when offers from films started coming in. It was then that this family decided to launch him in Kannada.
Incidentally 'Love' was shot in our own Dubai and that was Aditya's first encounter with the city he loves to visit.
It was hard to believe that Aditya speaks fluent KONKANI and this fan of film greats like Dr Raj Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan has already acted in a Hindi film called 'Rudra' directed by Ram Shetty.
How did it feel to be directed by his dad? "The advantages of 'Love' being my home production have been many. I didn't have to bother about the dates, rehearsals etc. I had ample time to prepare myself before facing the camera. But yes, initially I was uncomfortable doing intimate scenes with the heroine as I used to feel conscious of the fact that my dad was watching! But now, I am completely at ease in front of the camera and the actor in me takes over once the camera is switched on," he says.
Once he is satisfied with his acting career, he will take up direction which has been his dream and passion. But that will have to wait as his focus right now is on making audiences fall in love with him through his performance in front of the camera.
His latest movie is 'Mohini, a first horror movie to be directed by his father.
He too acted in more than 20 films and his next release is 'Madana' whose audio was released by Dr Vishnuvardhan recently in what was noted for being the grand reunion of Dr Vishnuvardhan and S V Rajendra Singh Babu after a decade and a half. The thick-friends-turned-foes again joined together forgetting the bitter past. It is this Dr Vishnu and Singh Babu pair in Kannada cinema had given wonderful films like Nagarahole, Bandhana, Muttina Hara, Himapata, Mahakshatriya etc.
Darshan
It was a fascinating evening with the stars that represent present and future of Kannada filmdom. The highlight of the whole episode is home truth. Carrying on the issue of lack of overseas market for the Kannada movies on which the stars highlighted during their interaction with the media on Friday, we discussed the issue in length.
The outcome was a very apt remedy prescribed by both matinee idols - something must be done to open the overseas market. For this to happen they are ready to do anything and many things. Budget constrains due to limited market, lack of family audience and the overseas market are plaguing the Sandalwood world.
Buddies Darshan and Aditya are very excited about screening their hits in Dubai thus opening a door to many foreign Cities to follow suit. They even have offered the prints free of charge to set the ball rolling.
Aditya
'Support Kannada Movies' is their clarion call to all Gulf Kanndigas and they look forward to the latter's whole-hearted support to this mission.
The Karnataka Sangha took all the initiative to screen the premiere show movie of Vishnu. The print was sent, the huge file of dialogues in Kannada had arrived, and the Plaza Cinema was booked for a Friday morning show. But the Arabic sub-titling and want of a financier were only the hindrance which aborted a history-making event.
It is up to the Karnataka-origin forums in the UAE to come forward and unitedly take up this issue and fulfil the longstanding dream of Gulf Kannadiga.
Any takers? This is a call to all Kannada, Konkani,Tulu and Urdu-speaking Kannadigas to join hands and make the movement 'Support Kannada Movies' a success.
The aroma of Sandalwood - from Daijiworld archives: