Karthik Jayaram, the lead star of the popular TV series Ashwini Nakshatra, is a household name in Karnataka. The actor, who started his career playing a negative shade in Kannada, will be making his entry into the Tamil industry too as a villain. The film is directed by Shankar Dayal, who did Shaguni with Karthi. Vishnu Vishal plays the protagonist.
Karthik, who is in Chennai for the shoot, told City Express about how the offer came to him. “I heard that the director was looking for an experienced actor but failed to find the right person. That’s when Vishnu, who knew me through CCL, showed my pictures to the director. Initially, they were hesitant to approach me since I play the hero in Kannada films. But still they took a chance,” says Karthik, who was impressed with Shankar’s narration.
“Though I play a villain, the story revolves around me. I play a stylish young politician and I felt that the role was tailor-made for me. Since it is new territory for me, I thought it was the best move,” he says.
Though Karthik has a bagful of films in Kannada, he is upset with the way the release mechanism works in Sandalwood. “Today it is easy to make a film but difficult to see a release. We have to make sure that there is no clash with not only Kannada films but also with other language films.”
“My film Bangalore-23 is yet to hit the screens. This delay is affecting the release of my other projects like Chandrika, C/o of Footpath and Mottamme Ssssh. So I decided to concentrate on my Tamil film,” he says.