BENGALURU: Actor Srinivas Beesetty didn’t get to watch the first showing of Srikanth to gauge the reaction of the audience, as he was preparing for a play in the city. In the movie, Beesetty plays Damodar Bolla, the father of Rajkummar Rao’s character. Initially, he didn’t realise his part got noticed, especially given the strong supporting cast, including Jyothika, Sharad Kelkar, and Alaya F.
However, he soon started receiving messages from critics, praising his performance as ‘impactful.’ Beesetty recalls that he initially auditioned for the role of a politician named Vidya Reddy, which is played by his ‘dear friend’ Sukhita Aiyyar. “When this father role came up, the shoot was scheduled for two weeks but we wrapped up in 10 days. I also realised there were many montage shots with reactions rather than dialogues, so I, honestly, did not expect much.
Sometimes, scenes get chopped in the editing process,” Beesetty explains. He adds, “I’ve been fortunate. After the shoot, when the film went into post-production, the director called and congratulated me, saying not a single shot of mine was cut.”
Creating a character involves significant effort, regardless of screen time, and comes with its own set of challenges. “The challenging part was portraying Damodar when he was stable or super excited. Those moments required more authenticity compared to the emotional scenes, which offer multiple channels to convey emotions,” the actor explains.
Additionally, he had to maintain the physicality of the character through different stages of life. “There was a short period when he was 25, then suddenly 52, and then 45. Ensuring the physical progression was hard,” he adds. Most of his scenes were with Rao, and Beesetty recalls moments when he admired his work ethics.
“Once, after finishing his shot, Rajkummar Rao realised it wasn’t a wrap-up yet and came back running. He wanted to give me cues personally, instead of an assistant director. It was quite humble of him because, in my experience, actors of his stature don’t usually do that,” Beesetty mentions.
Primarily coming from a theatre background, Beesetty points out the gap he feels between theatre acting and performing in front of a camera. “I find myself handicapped when in front of a camera for multiple reasons. In theatre, you’re in character for one to three hours. But in films, it’s a shot that lasts a minute or two, and then you’re out of character. Film acting is slightly mechanical,” explains Beesetty, who is currently in the city preparing for his upcoming play, which debuts next month.