Vasishta Simha has fulfilled his dream of turning into a singer, and now he plays a good man in Dayavittu Gaminisi. His move from the bad side, playing a villain, to the good has flooded him with offers to play the lead.
Perseverance have taken Vasishta Simha from one world to another, and always a better one. Even while writing software code in Accenture, he harbored dreams of being a singer. He got his break in Sandalwood playing an antagonist and now he plays a lead actor; Vasishta is one of the few in the industry who strided in instead of being dragged about.
After having done plenty of films portraying villainous characters, he will now play one of the lead characters in Rohit Padaki’s directorial debut Dayavittu Gaminisi - a multistarrer film that runs on four tracks.
The film has also allowed the actor to present his singing talent, which he had earlier done for Kirik Party and succeeded. “I never wanted to be an actor,” says Vasishta, who has a deep baritone. “I wanted to become a singer and that was the reason I shifted from Mysuru to Bengaluru.”
After facing the camera for the first time in 2011 and securing his first release on April 5 of 2013, he got his major break with the 2014 film Raja Hulli.
“It was Guru Despande who took that risk and had me play the villain in the film. I had worked intensely on my body language and that was noticed by the audience. Thankfully, I have never allowed myself to be a typecast. Even in the various negative roles, I made sure that I do something different from my previous films,” he says.
According to the actor, it was Anoop Seelin who recommended him for Dayavittu Gaminisi. “Anoop knew me from 2004 and he thought that I fit the bill. When Rohit narrated the script and my character, I did not have second thoughts,” says Vasishta, who has been flooded with offers, especially after his performance in Godhi Banna Sadharana Mykattu. Without revealing details, the actor hints that his forthcoming films will soon see him in lead role.
“I might soon go solo and have even zeroed down on a few subjects, which will be officially announced as and when each film takes off,” he reveals.
The actor says that he is glad that he did not start as a hero. “It wouldn’t have taken me this far in the industry. Basically, I didn’t know anything about cinema and starting in other roles allowed me to learn. I wanted to discover myself as an actor, and I am learning more about myself with each film,” he says.
Talking about bridging the gap between the negative and positive characters, Vasishta says that every person has these two sides and that should reflect on screen. “To me, everything within the frame are characters and the hero is just another one of them,” he says.