The 25th ‘Belli Hejje’ programme, organized by the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, saw veteran actor Ambarish fielding a volley of questions from the chairman of the academy, Nagabharana, and also took a few questions from the audience.
Rebel Star Ambarish had no qualms in answering Nagabharana’s query on his interest in heroines rather than the scripts while selecting a movie. “My wife Sumalatha, used to say the same thing whenever a directed approached me. It was not true. I was interested in knowing the names of heroines but also about the script of the film,” he said.
The Rebel Star had claimed that he could get married only once he turned 39.
He revealed, “I wanted to marry only after constructing a house in Bangalore.”
His foray into films was accidental. “It was Shankar Singh who took me to director Puttanna Kanagal, who was looking for artistes for his film ‘Nagarahaavu’. Puttanna offered me the role of a villain,” he said.
He thanked Puttanna for giving him an opportunity to act and reminisced: “I was the first person to get a standing ovation from the audience for my performance as the villain in ‘Nagarahaavu’. The audience had appreciated my style of smoking a cigarette and delivering the dialogue — ‘Bulbul Maathadkillva’. I went on to act as a villain in 40 other Kannada films.”
He debuted as the hero with the film ‘Amarnath’ and established himself as a hero with the success of ‘Antha’. Several decades later, he is still as passionate about acting, as evident from the effort he has taken in his latest movie ‘Yamendra Upendra’. “The jewellery and crown were too heavy for me. I even repented for accepting such role but the director was very happy with the quality of the film and my performance. My wife Sumalatha has kept my photo in Yama costumes and her photo with a caption — ‘Suma with Yama’”, he said.
He came down heavily on the artistes who want to multi-task stating that, that brought down the quality of the movies, “There are occasions where I have met people who want to play all the roles — hero, producer, director. How can you expect quality in such films,” he questioned.
He signed off with the hope that more people should encourage Kannada movies and artistes.