It is nothing but passion towards cinema that has led me to shoulder the entire responsibility of Ramarjuna,” says Aniissh about donning multiple hats for the upcoming film. This first commercial entertainer getting a theatrical release after the pandemic will be out on Jan. 29. Apart from playing the lead, Aniissh is also taking up the production responsibilities and marking his directorial debut with Ramarjuna.
“As an actor, I never felt that I should not enter other departments of filmmaking. I consider myself a worker, like a light boy on the sets. So I don’t want to keep any limitations and enjoy being part of all aspects, from ‘pin to piano’, of filmmaking,” explains Aniissh, adding, “Evolving myself in different aspects of filmmaking began from my very first film, Nam Areal Ond Dina. I remember enjoying even putting up posters of that movie all around the city. So every film had something to teach me.”
Ask him if he ever felt overconfident enough to decide upon handling all these departments, and he replies, “If I was overconfident, I would have done this 10 years ago, when I entered the industry, and wouldn’t have taken this long. Today, whatever responsibilities I have taken for Ramarjuna, it is all at my risk. Of course, I have confidence in my capabilities, and whatever you see in Ramarjuna would be the result of my previous experience.”
So what made him take the directorial plunge with Ramarjuna? “I came to the industry to become an artiste. But there was this dream of portraying myself in a certain way, which unfortunately has not been fulfilled. So I decided to get behind the camera and direct myself. I wanted to deliver and execute my vision on the screen and I wanted it my way,” says Aniissh, adding that the arena is like gambling, and it may or may not work. “However, one can’t gamble with the making because it requires good knowledge. From the response and appreciation I have been getting for the rushes, I can say there are a lot of positive vibes around this film,” he says.
Aniissh stresses that Rakshit Shetty’s coming on board as a co-producer is an added strength for the project. “We are friends from the time we started our film journey, and we have been critics for each other’s films since then. His support for my project comes as a huge boost,” says Aniissh, who is looking forward to watching Ramarjuna amid the crowd in theatres.