Southern Spice: Kishore’s acting story

He belies his onscreen persona that has become synonymous with anti-hero images; be it gangster leader, Selvam in his Tamil debut Polladavan or rowdy Rathinam in another Tamil film Vamsam, Kishore played the bad guy to the hilt. Even in his Malayalam debut film, ‘Thiruvambadi Thamban,’ he was cast villain opposite actor Jayaram.

Meeting Kishore reveals a different person altogether. Soft spoken with a smile that never leaves his face, Kishore is easy to chat with. And, he claims, ‘I am not a good actor.’

But contradicting his modest statement is his career graph.

Kishore slipped into the skin of Selvam and Rathinam with the same ease with which he played the role of a tough no-nonsense coach Souda Muthu in ‘Venilla Kabadi Kuzhu.’ He received the Karnataka state award for supporting role in ‘Rakshasa,’ and Vijay TV award for best villian in Tamil film Polladhavan.’

Playing the larger than life villain in the recently released bilingual film Attahasa’ (Kannada) and Vanayudham’ (Tamil), Kishore stepped into the shoes of forest brigand Veerappan.

In G.N. Kumaravelan’s upcoming film Haridas, Kishore reveals his versatility while playing a tough cop whose gentle side comes to the fore when forced by circumstances to bring up a special child.

Playing Veerappan:

Accepting the role was quite tricky because in Karnataka, Veerappan is much hated, especially after the kidnapping of actor Dr. Rajkumar who is an icon here. But once I decided to do it, I worked on getting the looks right. I lost five kilos. Make-up artists from Bangalore and Mumbai worked on my appearance. Thanks to make-up artist, Anil Dada from Mumbai who brought the right moustache, it fit me best. Director Ramesh had done extensive research on the subject over the past 11 years. One tough scene called for emotions, the one where Veerappan breaks down after his child is killed in a police attack.

On his role in Haridas:

Sivadas is a tough cop who bends himself for the sake of his child. It was quite a challenge. I had to be constantly reminded by the team that I am playing a cop, as I behaved more like a rowdy and less like a cop. Being a father of two children, I could understand the emotions and strived to bring out the expressions of this father. Yet several emotions were new to me. It was a learning experience.

Language barrier:

My wife is Tamil so naturally I have picked up the language. Rather, I learnt it along with her little niece around, who was just beginning to speak.

Today Tamil industry shows great promise with interesting scripts. I am lucky to be a part of it now. I have worked with several new directors and they bring fresh energy.

Actor by chance:

Acting was never planned although I was a part of the college theatre group and loved watching films, especially Kannada films.

It was while working as a costume designer with Kannada director Bharat for his film, ‘Kanti,’ that he asked me for my pictures. I did not even have a portfolio then. I borrowed a costume from a friend while another friend of mine, who is not a photographer, clicked my pictures. Impressed with the pictures, the director asked me to do a reading. The lines were in Uttara Kannada slang and with my background in Kannada literature [Kishore holds a Masters in Literature], it was easy to deliver. To my surprise, I clinched a supporting role that had been earlier offered to two actors but declined by them.

His looks:

My face and my physique are my strengths. I wish to explore something fresh, a character that will be exciting to play. Having worked in four south Indian languages, I have the luxury to wait for the right role. I am a director’s actor, more like water that can fill into any container. It’s my dream to work in a period film someday.

His next:

I have signed a Kannada film, ‘Shastra,’ to be directed by Dr. Vasu, professor of Sociology, Bangalore University. It is loosely based on Maoist Saket Rajan’s life. In Tamil I play a key role, in Vishnuvardhan’s untitled Ajit starrer.