Karthik Jayaram’s small-screen success has allowed him to go places. His role in the serial Ashwini Nakshatra has grabbed eye balls in the Telugu industry. JK, as he is popularly known, is now ready to explore his options in Tollywood. His first Telugu film is the horror flick Chandrikan directed by Yogesh Munisidappa that also has Kamna Jethmalani and Sree Mukhi in the lead roles. The film being a bilingual project will also be made in Kannada. “People usually see the serious side of me in the TV soap Ashwini Nakshatra and this was apparently liked by the director of the Telugu film who approached me. Thankfully, even though it is a horror flick, it doesn’t involve any bloodshed.
The teaser of the film was quite impressive and that was the reason I accepted the role,” he says.
Seventy per cent of the shoot will happen at an indoor set in Rockline Studio in Bangalore and thirty per cent will take place in Hyderabad. Interestingly, the movie began its shoot with the song sequences and is now following it up with the talky portions from Monday. “This horror flick has a romantic angle and the director felt that a song sequence would help develop the chemistry between the lead pair, which was a welcome move for me,” says Karthik.
The actor is happy that he has been noticed outside the Kannada industry and believes that exploring another language so early in his career is a step ahead for him, “Life is big and I just want to go with the flow. After acting in a number of Kannada films and getting involved with a serial, now, I have the opportunity to explore the Telugu industry which is a big market in this part of the country. What I see in the little time, I have spent with the filmmakers is that they have a different working culture and have pre-planned their project well,” he says.
On the Kannada front, Karthik has a song shoot pending for his upcoming film Bangalore-23 and has just wrapped up C/o Footpath 2, which is a bilingual film in Kannada and Hindi and directed by Kishan. “The interesting thing about C/o Footpath 2 is that I play a lead antagonist in the film. I started my career in films playing negative roles and that set me off on my journey and brought me here. Even today, it is good that I never went by the fixed concept of hero or villain. I just believed in character roles and I am currently enjoying being a big fish in a small pond,” he signs off.
Ashwini Nakshatra shot on a foreign location
The Kannada small-screen market is only getting bigger by the day. Ashwini Nakshatra will be one of the first serials in Kannada to be shot abroad. The makers of the serial recently visited Australia where they shot a few scenes in Brisbane, Queensland and the surrounding areas. "Going abroad for films has been a regular practice, but I felt special when I shot in foreign locales for Ashwini Nakshatra. It was quite a hectic schedule as we shot day and night. This is not any special episode but will flow as part of the serial and will be aired in mid-November," says Karthik.