The metamorphosis from Shamsuddin Ibrahim, a Bangalore-based, football-loving boy to actor Shaam was a planned move. That is because deep in my heart, I always knew I wanted to be an actor, although my mother kept hoping that I would become a football player, as I had made it to the state and national level. However, my love for acting took precedence and soon I was modelling, confident that it was the platform to launch me into films. Before I knew it, I got my first break, thanks to director Jeeva, who was looking for a fresh face and launched me in the film, 12B.
September 28, 2001 is still fresh in my mind because that was the day when I first saw myself on screen (in 12B). Rajini sir saw the film and was very appreciative of my acting. What more could an actor want? I had no connections with the film industry and whatever I did, I did it on my own and thanks to Jeeva’s guidance. While his death was a great loss to the industry, for me it was a personal loss. He wasn’t only a mentor, but a father figure as well. I have done various kinds of roles but none have been as challenging as the one I am doing in my latest film, 6, a bi-lingual in Tamil and Telugu. My character evolves from a young boy to an adult to finally a toughie, complete with long beard and ruthless personality. The entire movie revolves round the figure 6 — six cities, six months, six years and so on. It is a commercial film all right, with two heroines Poonam Kaur and Binnu, and music by Shrikant Deva. The audience till then had only seen me in soft, romantic roles, so when I got a call from director Surender Reddy asking me to play a tough cop in the Telugu film Kick, I was a bit fazed and even asked him whether he had got the right Shaam. Apparently, the director knew what he was doing and before long, the film Kick was a hit. My career in Telugu films had begun on a positive note.
However, recently I was a bit disappointed when some of my scenes were chopped from a Telugu film. In Bollywood, multi-starrers are a given but in the south, they have not yet caught on. I loved Saif Ali Khan as Langda Tyagi in Omkara and both Vivek Oberoi and Ajay Devgn’s characters in the film were equally well-etched. Apart from Telugu and Tamil, I also acted in a Kannada film, Thananam Thananam, directed by Kavita Lankesh. And now Kick is being remade in Kannada and I will be starring in that too along with Sudeep. My advice to aspiring actors, at least those who have no links in the industry: you do not need a godfather, or anybody else for that matter, to succeed. You need to power ahead on the strength of your own determination and will. Follow your dreams, is my only advice.
*(Shaam is a well-known Tamil actor)