I get to debut with a movie revolving around my character

When

Adi Purana

hits theatres this week, its debutant hero,

Shashank K Rao

, joins the list of engineers-turned-actors in the Kannada film industry. With Shashank, though, the move was not entirely by fluke, and was largely prompted by the fact that his older brother has been dabbling with film production, including Adi Purana. “Acting has been an interest since my school days and I used to participate in plays. In fact, I am still a part of a theatre group and attend every workshop conducted by them. When my brother, Shamanth, was producing

Preeti Kitabu

, Mohan Kamakshi was the editor and told us that he was looking at turning director with a script he had been working on. He thought I was apt for the lead character, Aditya,” says Shashank.
The film, he adds, revolves around his character and looks at his life from his college days to finding a job and getting married. “Mohan sir wanted me to gain weight before we went on floors, to get the boy-next-door look. He also put me through the grind of acting workshops to make sure that I would do justice to the role,” says Shashank.
The USP of the character, says Shashank, is his innocence and that the characterisation makes him relatable for audiences. “I just had to be myself onscreen and I thought it was a good role for me to debut with,” he signs off.