As many of you know I am an engineer turned film maker. Though, I had done a one year “diploma in film acting” course before, my film-making journey mainly started in Infosys. We have an amazing dance group in Infosys called “Parichay”. Also there is an equally amazing film making group called “Dot Mov Talkies (DMT)” which started at the same time when I joined Bangalore Infosys in 2010. Since I was both a dancer and film-maker, I was part of both these groups. Not only me, many Parichay dancers have turned into actors through DMT short films and many actors have turned into dancers through Parichay. Best part of Infosys is we have many such groups to nurture and develop all kinds of artistic skills.
I initially started only as an actor and gradually got into direction. While working on my third direction project – “Thiruppam”, a Tamil horror short film, I faced many problems and also learnt a lot. I will write a separate blog to explain that experience probably with a title “How permissions and safety measures are very important in short films” ? .
Watch “Thiruppam” short film here
For that short film, we needed two cars for the shoot and since it was difficult to arrange for the cars separately, I had planned to cast actors who can not only act but also arrange for the cars themselves. So the first time we went for the shoot I had cast one of my friends in Parichay group, who was a good actor and had a car, to play heroine’s brother’s role in the film. But owing to a lot of problems, we had to re shoot the film. And this time the guy who played heroine’s brother had gone onsite, so he was not available. That’s when Karthik who was a good friend of mine through Parichay dance group came into picture. He wanted to try his hands in acting and he also had a car. So when he expressed interest to act, we did a basic audition and cast him for the brother’s role. That’s where Karthik debuted as an actor. After doing that role, Karthik became very serious about getting into acting full-time. First he joined an acting course conducted by a group called “Centerstage” in Bangalore, he acted in a couple of other short-films and after that he took a break from his job and attended a three month acting course conducted by the ”Anupam Kher Acting Institute” in Mumbai. After coming back, he worked very hard to get acting opportunities and did a lot of networking in feature film circles. First he got an opportunity to play the heroine’s brother’s role in a Kannada feature film “Chiravada Nenapu” and then through his work in that film, he got the lead role in another feature film “COMA” that was being directed by the associate directors of the former film.
So, 3 years ago, I cast him in one of my short films in a small role, in the same way I have cast many people (not sure if I would have considered him if he dint have the car ? ). But it was through his passion, dedication and above all perseverance and hard work that today he has gone from that small role to an opportunity to play the lead in a feature film. Well, I am not saying, it was because of me, he has become a star today ? . If he was passionate he would have found a way somehow, but now that things have worked out the way they have, I feel proud and happy to have been the one to introduce him to the world of acting and to have been the reason for that spark to get ignited in him. I feel extremely happy ? and sometimes intimidated looking at his growth ? ( stupid peer pressure ? ). But over the period of time I have come to realize the theory of abundance more and more, which says “the world if full of opportunities, no one can steal yours” and also “the more you give the more you get”. So here’s wishing my friend Karthik that he gets an amazing start to his long lived career as an actor through his debut feature film as a hero – “COMA” which is releasing across Karnataka this Friday, May 27th, 2016.
This film is being directed by two extremely talented folks Ravi and Chetan, who have had almost a similar film making journey like me and yeah , of course they have gone ahead now(both happy and jealous for that ? ) . The cinematographer, Karthik’s work is also too good, which you can see in the trailer and the songs. All the content released so far looks very promising and I am eagerly waiting for the film. So friends, do support new talents and teams like these. They have worked very hard for quite a long time to bring you a good film in Kannada. Requesting all of you to hit the theaters and watch the film in the first week itself. There is no better marketing than the word of mouth , so if you like the film (which I am pretty confident you will) do share it with as many people as possible and help them reach more and more audience.
COMA film teaser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dERICWK4y4
COMA film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG12gmnCXSw
COMA film video song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HetRdZJpRxU
COMA Audio Jukebox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82WSn5qfSU0
COMA teaser rap version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLe8e–aSJ4
PS: Hopefully we will also climb the feature film bandwagon soon, will keep you all posted. Cheers ?
KARTHIK, ALL THE BEST MAGA 
