Akshith S K, popularly known as Adityaa Shashikumar, is taking the legacy of his father (actor Shashikumar) forward, and will be making his acting debut with a bilingual. The film, directed by Prabhakar Aaripaka, is made in Kannada and Telugu, and is titled, Seethaayana and Seethayaanam, respectively. The star kid had initially signed a Kannada film with Siddharth Maradeppaa, which was supposed to be his debut, and was announced with a grand muhurath.
However, the film did not take off, and he now gets a launchpad in two languages. The film is presented by Rohan Bharadwaj, and made under the banner of Lalitha Rajyalakshmi Production. It features Anahit Bhooshan as the female lead. Akshith has completed shooting and dubbing for the Telugu version, and is now in the process of completing the dubbing for the Kannada version.
According to Akshith, who got the film through auditions, getting to start with a bilingual film is a big deal for a debutant. “Nepotism doesn’t work anymore. Just because my father is an actor, that doesn’t mean I get a red carpet welcome. It is all about the skills, how we shape up,” he says, adding, “This is my new entry into the field. I had started earlier, but things took another turn. For the betterment of my acting and dancing, I stayed back and practised with my dad, and went to different teachers to learn acting. I also went with my father to the sets, to learn the technicalities, as I felt I had to learn the basics,” he says.
He is happy to follow in his father’s footsteps and hopes to keep up his dad’s name, especially since the latter lost everything after an accident. “That was a major turning point in my life. Now my ultimate goal is that I want to make my dad smile. I hope that I carry on his legacy,” says Akshith. “At the same time, I am not doing it only for him. I had a passion. Sadly, I was discouraged at home, and they did not want to push me into the limelight, especially after my father’s accident. It was only in 2014, during the making of Munirathna Kurukshetra, that I got to enter a film set. I am happy to start from zero,” he signs off.