Upendra is sure about his political career, even forming his own party Karnataka Prajnavanta Janata Paksha. But he never ceases to amaze moviegoers when it comes to cinema, his first love.
He announced the launch of his political app on Saturday and, on the same evening, attended the media interaction for his upcoming film Upendra Mathe Ba.
What does he have to tell his fans who crave to watch him on silver screen as a filmmaker, especially when we have had few actors who stayed on with cinema even after entering politics? Upendra quipped: “I want to do something for the citizens and therefore I came into politics, but it looks like I will need time to involve myself with it completely.
I have never said that I will leave cinema. I just needed a gap, to set right the system. Moreover, I don’t make that decision. Like the lines ‘Haalaladaru haaku, neeralaadaru haaku’ (Put me in milk or in water) it depends on the general sentiment. I will always be where the general public want me, the decision is in their hands. If they want me to, I will come back and act”.
Currently, Upendra is looking forward to the release of Upendra Mathe Ba.., and then he is off to Hyderabad today to work on the last schedule of Home Minister. As of the film with K Madesh, the actor told us, “Since, I was tied up with work, I pushed the schedule of Uppi Rupee a little further and the filmmakers have been informed.”
Talking about his role in Upendra Mathe Ba.. he says that he is working with Arun Loknath for the second time after H2O. He says, “Director Loknath is more a friend to me and I feel at home when working with him. Credit is also due to technicians, especially to cinematographer Swamy for the wonderful picturisation and Sridhar V for the catchy songs for this family drama”.
About his double role as father and son, Uppi says, “It was fun. The best part of this film is that the father wants to be the son and vice-versa. The contrast between the two generations is something to watch out for in Upendra Mathe Ba..”
In this he will be featured opposite a number of heroines including the leads played by Prema and Sruthi Hariharan, along with Harshika Ponacha among others.
However, the film’s highlight is that it has Prema and Upendra sharing screen space for the third time and after a 15-year-gap.
“We had only Prema in mind and we were worried when initially we heard that she was reluctant to play the role, but we were glad that she later accepted it,” says Upendra, who then humbly corrects us saying that he did not introduce Prema and but it was Parvathamma Rajkumar who did.
“Prema later did Om and Upendra with me. I always told her that she is a lucky star, as both the movies were super hits, and we hope she brings luck to all of us with this film too”.
He falls back into talk about politics and says that he entered it as a common citizen, and not as a star. “Politics has been haunting me for the last 15 to 20 years and I had to answer the call or wander around as one of those unhappy souls. My film Uppi 2 had the same philosophy and I went by instinct. Me entering into politics was never planned, it just happened,” he says.