Sudeep ALIAS Kiccha Sudeep!!! TOI

RAMU AND RAJAMOULI ARE BOTH KIDS ON THE SET WITH CINEMA AS THEIR TOY

Priya Gupta

   Kannada superstar Sudeep, 39, changed his name to Kiccha Sudeep after the overnight success of his film Huccha in 2003. Born in Shimoga to a rich hotelier, his heart was always in films and he aspired for people to recognise him and take his autograph. Eighteen years since, it finally took an Eega to get him his due. He talks to Bombay Times about the pain of having been branded an iron leg of the industry, the lessons success has taught him and what makes Ram Gopal Varma and SS Rajamouli so similar.
While you have worked in Kannada cinema, how did you get to work with Ram Gopal Varma and SS Rajamouli?
It used to itch me for a long time that as Kannada stars, while we are recognised and loved in Karnataka, when we go to other parts of the country, people hardly recognised us, unlike Bollywood or Tamil superstars. While Bollywood was never on my mind, I wanted people to recognise me wherever I went. Ramu saw me on TV in some film and cast me in Rann. Rajamouli saw Rann and cast me for Eega.
How was your experience working with them?
Ramu and Rajamouli are similar. They can't speak about anything other than movies. Even if you talk to them about anything else, they will come back to talking movies. They are both fantastic students, who are open to learning and discussion at any time. Both are kids on the set with cinema as their toy. Whenever you are with Ramu, he will keep showing you scenes from films one after the other. He is hyper and can even shoot at 3 am. Rajamouli has a lot of clarity on what he wants. He will keep shooting as much as he can, without bothering about how busy his actors may be, till he gets it right. He was the only one who trusted me in a foreign state, Andhra Pradesh, where I did not know the language and no one knew me. Eega tested me fully as it was totally mono-acting. All my years of working in films put together was equivalent to this one film. The success of Eega also made me realise how people connect you only with success. It took 18 years for someone to tell me that I had done a good job.
You were considered unlucky for your films initially. How did you deal with it?
Right from childhood, I was interested in art and got a higher kick repairing and painting my bike rather than studying. I joined Roshan Taneja's acting class in Mumbai with the hope of returning to Bangalore to become a director. Since I was tall, some people suggested I could try acting. When I returned from Mumbai, I was to assist a director on a film, but the director migrated out of Bangalore and so, I took up acting. I did two films that did not complete after which I did
Thayavva that lasted in the theatres for just three days. I thought that since the film lasted only for three days, hardly anyone would have seen my debut and I quit films to join TV. After doing a fair amount of TV, I returned to films as a supporting actor. Then I again got a role as the lead actor in Sparsha, but to my bad luck again, on the 10th day after its release, Rajkumar Sir got kidnapped. So, on the 11th day, the film was taken off theatres. I was branded the iron leg of the industry. I was sulking and this tag was difficult for me to digest. Again, I was offered Huccha, which was a remake of the Tamil film Sethu. I asked the producer if he really wanted me in his film as I was considered unlucky.
   I told him, 'Don't tell me you want me to do the film and then I don't get to do it later, as that would break me down'. He stood by his word and we started shooting. On the 7th day of the shoot, there was a fight sequence during which I fell from the third floor on to a tree and then to the ground. All my ligaments were torn and I saw my leg hanging in front of me. Coincidentally, the press had been invited on the set that day to witness the shoot. No one informed the press that I had got hurt and as a result, they felt odd that inspite of me not even being a big star, I was acting pricey. I was branded arrogant. I completed the shot and even though I was hurt, drove back home myself. I had borrowed my friend's car that day and it took me three-and-a-half hours against the normal one hour, as I could use only one leg to drive. I kept my accident away even from my parents, as they would have been convinced that there was something wrong with my luck and would not have let me go back to complete the film. I met a physiotherapist the next morning, who gave me a band with iron rods so that I could tie up my knee till I competed the entire film. It hurt a lot, but I did not give up. Post the film, I was in the hospital and felt hurt as no one even came to see me. The doctor told me one thing, 'What God has given is gone. What is inside is man-made. Use it, don't misuse it'. The doctors told me that I would take a year to stand up and run. Huccha released and it became a blockbuster. And I prayed to God to make me okay as I was unable to be a part of a time that I had been waiting for, all along.
   Then, in the third month after my injury, one person came and told me that my sister had met with an accident. I don't know what happened to me; I just got up and ran. When I started, I just wanted people to recognise me and ask for my autograph. As a child, I had thought that once I do a film, I will get it easily. But after this, I respected success. Every time I have had a downfall, I have lifted myself up.
What was your emotional high point?
I can recognise eyes that are proud of me. I never look out for eyes that are jealous of me. Rajamouli had a lot of confidence in me. I kept thinking why this man chose me? My best award so far has been when people asked him, 'Why Sudeep?' and he said, 'Please watch him in the film and you will know why. I have done a lot of films so far. But one day when I look back, I will be proud of the fact that I directed Sudeep'. What more can I ask for?