Spotlight : Saikumar
Making waves in Kannada films

After a brief stint in Kannada films, noted Telugu star Saikumar is back with his much-hyped Telugu venture Sivanna. And he is already flooded with offers. A tete with the only non-Kannadiga star to make it big in Kannada films...

If Sivanna succeeds at the box-office, small-budget filmmakers will heave a sigh of relief as they will have another star to bank upon who, like Srihari, would easily fit into their themes as well as budgets. From among the flood of offers, Saikumar has already accepted those from big banners like Rama Naidu, Ushakiron Movies and Eetharam Films.

Five more films are in the pipeline. He switched over to Kannada films after the debacle of Swarnamukhi,and Kalavarichelalu Kanakamahalaxmi as well as his home production Ishwar Allah. He made a comeback with the massive success of Underworld, disapproving many film pundits. He followed it up with hits like Om Namasivaya, Mahatma and Ticket-Ticket.His recent release, Paapigala Lokadali, has had a tremendous opening. Among the starrers he has on the floor at present are Durgathahalli, Kadga and Raashtriya Geethay.

With his comeback to Telugu films, he has been hailed as the messiah of small-budget films. He has endeared himself to the masses with his dramatic acting and booming voice. The industry is anxiously waiting for another star to boost small-budget films and Sivanna has Saikumar in a very powerful role, backed by a good subject to make it a winner.

Following the success of Police Story and a few other films, you managed to create a name for yourself in the Kannada film world. Instead of cashing in on that success, was it wise on your part to move back to Telugu films?

It is true that I won the love of the Kannada audiences with Police Story. It is considered as one of the biggest hits in Kannada. Besides Agni IPS, which was also a success, films like Central Jail and Police Brothers gave me a standing in the Kannada industry. I heartily thank the Kannada cinegoers for accepting me as a police officer in that film. Besides, they have liked my style of acting and expression. Though my performance was lauded by many police officials, too, I felt I was getting repetitive. To break the monotony, I did a Tamil film Independence Day, and followed it up with Dasari’s Rowdy Durbar in Telugu. Thus I became busy doing Telugu films. I will always remain indebted to Kannadigas for the love and affection they have showered on me and my priority would be Kannada films. If Sivanna clicks, I shall do both, Telugu and Kannada films, alternately.

You are the only non-Kannadiga actor to make it big in Kannada films? How did you manage it?
If I managed to attain a position in the Kannada film industry, it is due to two factors. Firstly, my mother Jyothi was a Kannada actress between 1958-60 and acted in six films opposite great actors like Dr Rajkumar and Udaykumar. She did films with an ace director like Puttana Kanagal. The other is that I worked very hard on my diction and delivered my dialogues properly. I used to memorise sheets of dialogue much in advance as I didn’t want people who came to watch shootings to find fault with my language. Now I have mastered the language, 80 per cent, and the audiences,too, have magnanimously begun to accept my kind of diction. I think maybe these two factors have helped me to win the love of the audiences and also enabled me to gain a foothold in the Kannada film industry.

After a lean trot, you are making a comeback with the much-hyped Sivanna whose climax is also being talked about since you appear in it as Chatrapathi Sivaji and Subash Chandra Bose, which seems to be quite different?
Director KS Nageshwara has been discussing various projects for a long time and now he has come up with a very interesting one. The basic storyline is that a father, who is a ‘bantroth’ (who stands besides the judge in courts), aspires that his son should become an upright lawyer. But due to some events he becomes a gang leader to avenge his sister’s death and the father disowns him. Ironically, before dying in the arms of his son, the father asks him to eliminate all the rowdies. In the climax he saves the CM and appears as Alluri Seetamaraju, Subhash Chandra Bose and other national leaders before eliminating Rami Reddy.

We have worked very hard on the project since it is an acid test for both of us. It should succeed for the benefit of the industry and give a boost to small-budget films.

There were many instances where small-budget films have got stuck midway due to lack of finance.So, how are you going to pick the right productions?
I am aware of this aspect and so I have entrusted the job to seasoned film maker Jayakrishna who would hold discussions with producers and finalise the projects after knowing the details about the sources of finance. I like to do small films within a stipulated budget by wrapping up a film within 40 days. I have done many films in Kannada and Telugu within specified amounts and time-frames, which has fetched profits both to the producers and distributors.

Since I am a producer’s actor, I would see to it that he gets a margin and I would like to do more such films.

But your next film with director Kodi Ramakrishna seems to be a big-budget film. How do you justify this contradiction?
The combination of Saikumar and Kodi Ramakrishna has invariably been a craze. Besides, the subject of the project also demands a big budget. Prema is paired opposite me in this love story, a wholesome entertainer, laced with graphic works. I want to be a ‘flexible’ star who can easily fit into both small and big budget films and have the ‘best’ of both the worlds.

According to industry the grapevine, you have been brought back to the industry to counter the meteoric rise of action star Srihari? Is it true?
I have denied this umpteen times and I want to clear it once and for all. Srihari has been a very close friend of mine for a long time and he even invited me for the launch of his maiden film but I couldn’t make it. I am very happy about his success and wish him more success. In my long career, I have observed that the industry has paid back everyone who has dedicated himself to the industry and Srihari is one such hardworking and professional artiste who made it big. His dare-devil action is enthralling the masses and if you still want to pit me against him, I would take it as a healthy competition. Lime me, he didn’t have a ‘godfather’ to promote and we had to struggle every inch to reach this position. I began as a child artiste in 1974 and later moved from bit roles to supporting roles and gained good reputation by dubbing for all South Indian stars and also for Amitabh in the Telugu version of Kudha Gawah. I graduated to lead roles after dubbing for more than 1000 films.

You tried to promote your brother Ayyappa Sarma as a director with Ishwar Allah but the experiment failed. Are you not jeopardising your career by doing another film with him in Kannada? Is it really wise?
He has been aspiring to become a director for a long time and worked out the script of Ishwar Allah which was about Hindu-Muslim unity. Unfortunately, it lead us into a financial mess. The only solace has been that we received the award as the Best Film for National Integration from our State Government. Also, I wanted to see my father PJ Sarma’s name (he has been in the industry for 40 years) and my mother’s name on the screen and it happened. This time also my brother has come with a subject, the script of which has impressed me. I am playing a historical character. We have shot at the Chitradurga Fort where a film was shot some 25 years ago. There is no question of putting my career at stake because my brother is definitely a talented guy. He just needs a hit to prove himself. I hope this film would bring him success. I am doing another film with him. It is titled Rudra and its script once again sounds good.

You appear to be stuck with the ‘melodramatic’ actor image. Being a competent actor, don’t you want to perform naturally to endear yourself to the present-day youth? Can we see a different Saikumar from now onwards?
I began my career as a stage artiste in 1972. I belong to the old school of acting and am a great admirer of Sivaji Ganesan and NTR. First my emotional dubbing and later my voice endeared me to the masses. The characters I portrayed demanded dramatic acting and to reach out to the masses I had to give that additional ‘punch’ to convey the point. I did this because the masses liked the style immensely. Having won over the masses,I have now to capture the class audience by subdued acting and Kodi Ramakrishna’s film would present me in a new mould. Kodi Ramakrishna specifically told me to deliver the dialogues casually and I enjoyed playing that role. I hope after this film, I would get some different characters to enact to prove my versatility. I shall definitely capture the present generation with my performances in forthcoming films.


BVS Prakash