WHEN it comes to taking a decision, that too, quitting a lucrative job to take up acting as a career, one tends to think and question the risks involved, umpteen number of times. And, Michael Eshwar seems to have taken the decision with ease and confidence. “Acting was on my mind even when I flied high. But I had the fire in me to don the grease paint and finally when I got a chance, I didn’t want to refuse,” says Michael, who got the second name ‘Eshwar’ through his debut film Virunthali. “My character was called Eshwar and people started recognizing me only if I said I was Michael Eshwar. It took sometime for me to get used to the second name,” smiles Michael, who is all set to fly to Bangkok for shooting a commercial. “A big surprise awaits me when I come back to India. Talks are on to do a big director’s film and I’m happy about it,” informs Michael. How did acting happen? “When I was doing my MBA in Loyola College, I did a lot of advertisements. Producer Henry of Bharathi Kannama and Vande Madaram fame spotted me in one of the commercials and asked me whether I was interested in acting. As he had a few projects to complete, I continued with my cabin crew job in Emirates and finally, my dream came true with Virunthali,” says Michael with a smile. He adds, “I worked out a lot to trim down and even learnt dancing. All these things aided me in Virunthali, in which I played a villager’s role. I got rave reviews for the movie. Then, a Hollywood project, directed by Sohan Roy, came on my way. I play a marine engineer in that film and that experience was an eye-opener. The movie is based on a true incident, a dam disaster in 1975. Shooting in places like Kerala was refreshing and that too working with people from different backgrounds was amazing. I learnt a lot by watching my co-stars Ashish Vidyarthi and Linda Arsenio perform on the sets. The movie is all set to release in September.”
“I have accepted this international commercial and when I come back from Bangkok, my full concentration will be on films. I take this profession seriously because I left my job, to pursue my passion,” says this 28-year-old actor.