It is indeed a challenging day for ‘Challenging Star’ Darshan. His birthday is a two-day celebration and like every year, this time too, he has to forego his sleep to attend special poojas and other celebrations. The star, who turns 38 today, says, “I have climbed the ladder of success because of my fans. They are so important to me that even if God calls me today, I will request Him to spare me for just this one day! Just as bevu bella is synonymous with Ugadi, celebrations with my fans are an essential part of my birthday.”
Pet parade
Darshan’s love for animals is known to all. The star, who has a private zoo in Mysuru, will get a special surprise from his pet labradors. “My pets, all in the age group of eight months have been trained by our trainer to put up a special parade. I am looking forward to it. My latest passion is to spend time with these babies. If I am not shooting on a Sunday, we take our labs for an outing and spend four to five hours with them,” he says.
A sweet gesture
Darshan is thankful to his neighbours who don’t seem to mind the chaos surrounding his birthday. Such is his popularity that a school situated near the actor’s home has declared a holiday today. “I do not know how to react to such love. I feel honoured,” he says.
Time management
Talking about certain professional decisions that he has taken around his birthday, Darshan states that in order to tackle growing expectations and the pressure to deliver, he will focus on time management. “From now on, I will try to extract more value out of time. Today, people have come to the assumption that I can only do one movie per year, which is not the case. I can take up multiple jobs. But, the issue is that today’s younger teams are getting lethargic. Though they do a good job, they take time in making a film. Ambareesha took a long time and so is the case with Airavata for which I began shooting in August last year. We have completed only 75 per cent of the shoot. So, I have put a condition that we have to wind up Airavata by April. I don’t want to extend the shoot by even an extra day. I have decided that from now on I will fix the schedules for my films,” he asserts.
Jaggu Dada and Chakravarthy to start in May
Darshan has decided to start two films in May and will be simultaneously shooting for them. “The muhurath of Jaggu Dada will be held today, while the makers of Chakravarthy (directed by Chinthan) will conduct a small pooja just before we go on floors from April. I will give an equal amount of dates to both films. This will be my agenda from now to make most of every minute and keep both the directors and producers satisfied,” he says.
Two shades in Jaggu Dada
Directed by debutant Raghavendra Hegde, Jaggu Dada’s muhurath will take place today and the actor will be seen portraying two characters. According to Raghavendra, the film will be a rom com and an action caper. “Darshan will be seen as an underworld don and as a businessman and it will have situational comedy, making it an apt family entertainer,” he says. Darshan will be seen in a new look with long hair and a beard. “I don’t have time to grow a long hair, so I have to go for a wig,” says Darshan.