Meet the pivotal cast of Aake

KM Chaitanya's next film Aake, which hits the screens this weekend, has Chiranjeevi Sarja and Sharmiela Mandre as its lead cast. Though, it also has five other actors playing pivotal roles in the story. Chaitanya says four of these are people he knew long before he entered the film industry, while another is someone who he only knew virtually and met on the first day of the cast script reading session.Here's the director talking about each of these members:
Achyuta Kumar
He and I are contemporaries and understand each other really well, since we used to do a lot of theatre together. He made his debut with me and has since been a part of most of my projects.
Prakash Belawadi
He is my guru in many ways. It is because of him that I've been exposed to a lot in theatre, literature and politics. He's someone who has inspired me always and having him on the set was a great asset.
Amaan and Balaji Manohar
Balaji and Amaan are both people I knew much before I got into films. We've all done theatre together and have a rapport because of that. In that sense, the presence of these pre-cinema friends on the set ensured it was a smooth sail.
Sneha Acharya
Sneha is someone I've known only virtually. Her casting was the strangest. I usually meet and study an actor before I cast. With Sneha, I interacted with her only, got her videos and pictures, but met her in person on the first day of script reading.