BANGALORE: Atharva is on cloud nine with his maiden Tamil film, Baana Kaathadi, which released on Friday, receiving rave reviews from critics.
When Atharva got an offer from Satyajyothi Films to act in Baana Kaathadi, in which Samantha plays the heroine, he could not resist it. “The script was very interesting. I thought that it would be foolish to not grab this opportunity,” said Atharva, whose father Murali had done six successful films of the same banner.
The actor had to stay at the Royapuram slums for 45 days to feel the pulse of slumdwellers and learn about their lifestyle. He also visited Gujarat during the kite festival as part of the shooting. “It was nice to see people of all ages participating in the kite festival,” the actor said.
“The story of Baana Kaathadi revolves around a slumdweller who is fond of flying kites. He falls in love with a girl from an affluent family. The film also talks of the consequences of a boy from a poor family falling in love with a girl born with a silver spoon in her mouth,” the actor said.
Interestingly, Atharva did not evince interest in becoming an actor till he joined engineering college. “My father Murali was surprised when I told him that I wanted to act in a film. My mother advised me to complete my engineering course before facing the camera. However, I convinced her that I would do both engineering and acting simultaneously,” he said.
Earlier, people were surprised when Atharva made it known that he did not want to enter the movie world. This was largely because his father, Murali, had made his debut in Sandalwood with Prema Parva and had acted in 10 Kannada films before migrating to the Tamil film industry and earning fame there. His grandfather, Siddalingaiah, is a well-known director in Sandalwood and has made films such as Bangaarada Manushya, Boothayyana Maga Ayyu and Prema Parva.
Atharva, however, initially bucked the trend of the children of stars wanting to enter the film world as he had wanted to become a dhobi. “I used to watch dhobis washing clothes from the terrace of our house. I felt that dhobis are the strongest people on the earth. The force with which they wash the clothes impressed me a lot,” he said. “My grandfather asked me what I wanted to become. He expected me to say that I wanted to become an artiste, engineer or a doctor. He was shocked when I told him that I wanted to be a dhobi. He confined me to a room and gave me a lecture for more than an hour,” he recalled.
“Later, I wanted to be a football player because I was impressed by the football team of my school. Again, my grandfather counselled me for an hour,” he said.
maheswarareddy@expressbuzz.com