Kannada actors are evolving with time and are now willing to attempt realistic performances. Arun Sagar’s role of a 60-year-old rat poison seller in debutant director TK Dayanand’s Benkipatna is surely one such character with abundantly varied shades.
According to the actor, the challenge in the role was to convert the thoughts and the feelings of the character and project them convincingly. “After having been in the industry for so long, I didn’t find it difficult to play this 60-year-old-man. But, I had to go around and do a bit of research about people who were doing this kind of a work. My director even gave me a couple of books to guide me. So, while it may seem like a cakewalk on screen, it was indeed the result of amalgamating many character traits into one,” says Arun.
The actor admits that his role in Benkipatna is unlike any of his previous roles and it allowed him to craft a character rather than just play it. “I have carefully picked roles. In fact, after my appearance in Big Boss, people wanted to encash my fame by offering me roles of the antagonist. But, I can’t portray a villain all the time and thus, limited myself to character roles,” he says.
About his future projects, Arun states that he faced a setback with his directorial venture Joker because of financial issues but he is confident of rolling it soon. “My upcoming film after Benkipatna is Ring Master, which again comes in a different shade,” he says. Arun is also excited about his debut in Tamil, which will hit the theatres in the same week. “I play the villain in the film Chandamarutham directed by A Venkatesh. Sharathkumar plays the lead. It was a good opportunity and I was thrilled to dub for my role in Tamil. So, this week, I have to divide my mind and time between two films,” he says.