E-Paper
Kichcha Sudeep: I don’t believe in stardom, I just believe in saleability
Kannada cinema’s poster boy, actor Kichcha Sudeep says that actors are not valued by the number of fans, but by box office collections.
He is one of Kannada cinema’s biggest stars, but Kichcha Sudeep exudes humility that few actors with his fan following would. Having just completed 25 years in the film industry, the 47-year-old is looking forward to the release of Vikrant Rona, the world’s first film that unraveled its logo at Dubai’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa. In a late night chat with us, the actor, filmmaker and television host talks competition, aversion to tags, and why he thought he wasn’t big enough to have a make up man for years. Excerpts:
How does it feel hitting the 25 year milestone?
The feeling remains the same, it doesn’t make a difference. I feel 25 glorious years for me is the fact that I survived for 25 years, because this field has got too much competition and things happening these days. First of all, your fans show loyalty, they stick to your films, and come to the theatres to watch you even after all these years. That’s a blessing. That I managed to be around for these years and maintain a certain positioning, a lot of people’s contribution went into that. I’m happy I’m still being able to do what I do, just like how I started my first day. I feel the same about films.
It must have been a special moment to see the Burj Khalifa light up in Dubai recently, to celebrate your journey, along with the launch of your next film Vikrant Rona, isn’t it?
Whatever happened was an entire team’s effort. It takes certain money. Even when Dubai wanted to host me for this milestone... I didn’t expect all this to happen in my life, I’m just going out and doing my job, the producers of Vikrant Rona wanted to do certain things. When somebody starts believing in your product, it makes you get up earlier and work better. The way people gathered there irrespective of the Covid situation… there are humongous restrictions in Dubai, not more than seven people can stand anywhere, there’s a penalty. Keeping all that aside, they wanted to stand. It was a precious moment, and it belongs to my team.
Tell us something about Vikrant Rona, what made you say yes to it?
It is good content, and not just visually grand. I don’t accept films because they are being made on a grand scale. At the end of the day, no matter how much you spend, you need to tell a story. That is bigger. If it is not the best story in the world, that’s okay, it should satisfy people enough to buy a ticket. Visualisation and other things are about how to tell that story. I was convinced that this is the way I wanted to tell this story. When the director narrated it to me, it was a small story, we made it big. It’s beautiful content.
What was that point in your career when you realised you had made it big?
I’m not being modest, but I don’t believe in stardom, I just believe in saleability. That’s the valuation every actor has. We are not valued by the number of fans we have, but the collections we get at the box office. We all have a fan following, what makes you what you are is the revenue your film gets. That’s the positioning I am talking about. So far, I am still being able to do certain things, have people investing in them, have writers wake up in the morning and write for me. That is a blessing which I am still enjoying.
Not many people know that you still have the same make-up man today, with whom you worked on your first day on set…
He was a temporary back then when he started. I didn’t have a make-up person for years, I hadn’t probably grown to a position where I could say I want a personal make up man! The day I saw he’s not having too much work, in the later years, I called him and asked if he would like to stay with me. I had this emotion too that this person had put the first ever make up on me. He’s a very good guy, a gentleman to have around.
High points have been aplenty, but have there been any low points too so far?
My lowest phases have been my highest. They are the only learning points for me, I never learnt anything from my successes. I have never learnt anything from my good moments. The lowest phase makes you stay with it for a longer time, whether you like it or not. In the beginning, we all think time has been unkind, people have been... that too, all these thoughts come, but after some time, you start feeling it was right. You realise you didn’t do something right, and learn from that. My career’s lowest phases have been the most beautiful. I don’t think I would have been able to be here without them.
