Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah turns actor for The Terrorist

One of Kannada cinema’s most prominent names in the production and distribution business, Pushkara Mallikarjunaiah, has turned to acting. Director PC Shekar has convinced the filmmaker to do a pivotal role in the upcoming Ragini Dwivedi-starrer, The Terrorist. “It took me a while to convince him to appear before the camera, and even after he came onboard he kept asking me if I was sure about casting him. I was only looking at the character I had planned and I thought Pushkara would fit it perfectly. He plays a National Intelligence Agency officer in the film and what I have seen is that since such officials deal with terrorism-related investigations, they are never in uniform, speak less and, instead, make others talk to fill in the narrative of the investigation. All that I asked of Pushkara is to be himself onscreen. As a director, if I keep coaching my actors for what I want, they will imbibe my mannerisms and, after a point, they will do the same thing in every film. So, I let them do what they can. I hardly had to give Pushkara any pointers,” says Shekar.When we asked Pushkara about his debut, he tells us that turning actor has been on his agenda for a while. “I am a creative person, and wanted to turn director. Instead, I became producer. For about a year now I have been planning to get into acting as well, but instead of portraying myself as hero, I look at myself as a character-driven actor. The role in The Terrorist fit into that scheme,” says Pushkara.