Nikhil Kumar who had a power-packed debut with Jaguar seemed to have learnt the tricks of the trade.. While he is just back from his promotional tour, Nikhil was happy to meet and greet people at every place he visited in North Karnataka and to hear from people about his debut.
“I was overwhelmed with the way people of Karnataka welcomed me. I was also excited when a few North Indians, who I met at Jindal, came over to me and said that they liked the film. I always knew that ‘B’ and ‘C’ audiences will like the movie, but I was happy that I had won over the ‘class’ category too,” he says.
However, on a more personal note, Nikhil says that a lot more could’ve been done with Jaguar. “First of all, I would openly say that Jaguar could have done with a better director and, with that, we could have expected a better product. Secondly, I wish I had a little more time for the post-production work. No doubt people of Karnataka have loved Jaguar, but personally I felt let down in a few situations and felt that we could have done much better,” says Nikhil, who also opened up about his father as a producer. “My father is a person with a good heart but he cannot be a good businessman... people take him for granted,” he says.
Nikhil is learning from the mistakes of his first film and making sure not to repeat them in future. Therefore, he has a list of things planned before he starts with his second project with Surender Reddy, which he says will most probably be from March next year.
“For the next three months, I will take more classes in dancing and stunts because that is where my strengths lie. I have the Jaika team coming to Bengaluru from Bangkok, who will be teaching me the skills and a few dance experts who will be training me in different dance forms,” says Nikhil, who also hints that his role in the second film will have shades of “tough guy” for which he will probably grow his hair.
“I don’t want to reveal more about my character right away but I will be exploring a new image in this film. The director is in the pre-preparation work and he will be in Bengaluru soon to discuss the story with me,” Nikhil adds.
Nikhil Connects - a platform for Kannada artistes
Nikhil has decided to take charge of the production work from his second film and plans to cast heroines and character artistes from Kannada only. He plans to open a casting agency to bring out new talents to Kannada. “‘Nikhil Connects’ will start in the next fortnight, where we will look out for new talents from Karnataka and will be a hiring assistant director to do the job. I am very particular that I have a heroine from here. If the characters don’t fit in the film, I always send their profiles to the makers of our serials that is being done in our own channel. But my second project will bring forth new talents from Karnataka,” he says.
The actor to open a studio
Nikhil is also planning to open up a studio for himself and for Kannada industry. “This will take a month or two. I am coming up with a temporary structure, where I will be setting up computer graphics and dubbing studios. I will also purchase my own lights and some hi-tech equipment, which will be used for my films in future. I would want to rent it out when I am not using it, as it should benefit the Kannada industry,” says Nikhil.
His third film will be with aKannada directorNikhil also has plans to work with Kannada directors and he had names such as S Krishna, Harsha, Chetan and Santhosh Ananddram in mind. “My third film will definitely be with a Kannada director. I will be listening to the various scripts from Kannada directors and I will choose to work on a subject that is apt for me,” he says.