Director Nanda Kishore is not a new name in Kannada cinema. Being the son of a reputed theatre and film actor Sudhir, Nanda Kishore was introduced to the world of cinema at a young age. Being pampered by his family, especially his father, the young boy did not face any hardship and went on to complete his BSc. He worked in a company for a while.
However, he was lured back into the world of films and gave us hits such as Victory and Adyaksha , both with actor Sharan in the lead, Ranna with Sudeep and Mukunda Murari with Upendra and Sudeep. Currently, the young director is busy with his latest project, Pogaru , with Dhruva Sarja and Rashmika Mandanna. He shares the journey of his life and career, one that was not devoid of trials and tribulations.
We were never keen about the film industry as children. I was the apple of my father’s eye. So all I did was focus on my studies without a thought for films; I did not know I would be so passionate about cinema one day.
It all started in 1999, when my father felt gravely ill. He was the centre of my world and I never expected my father to die. When he did, the tragedy shook my entire world.
Those days, working in films was very different. My father had acted in many films which involved bomb blasts and for all those years, he had been inhaling chemicals till finally 40% of his lungs were blocked. Yet, he was so passionate about acting he would even carry his own oxygen mask to the sets. After his shot, he would rush back to the car and put on his mask.
He was also passionate about theatre and dedicated at least eight days a month to watching plays. Once, after a show, he fell so sick that he was hospitalised. We rushed him to a hospital as he could not breathe and he was immediately put on a ventilator.
Missed chance
I was by his side 24/7. One day he showed slight signs of improvement. So I was sent home freshen up. Sadly, by the time I reached home, he had passed away. To my bad luck, he regained consciousness in my absence and spoke to the rest of the family. I missed that one chance to speak to the man I loved the most and lost all my strength. He was 52 when we lost him. I went into depression after that and gained a lot of weight, I weighed almost 255 kilograms!
I am not a party person nor do I drink, so I took solace in food. My mother now became the sole earning member of the family. She soon started her own theatre group — Karnataka Kala Vaibhava — and travelled a lot. My brother and I were in our own worlds.
I stopped talking to my mother for seven years. One day, I called her and discovered she was in a very bad condition. You know how the world looks at a single woman, especially women artistes. Seeing her plight, I rushed back to be by her side and took up a job. I also helped her with theatre and her troupe. From there on, a love for cinema was instilled in me. I decided that my father’s legacy should be carried forward and I entered the industry to become an actor.
First steps
I started with the film Neela Megha Shaama, directed by Raj Kishore. I am indebted to actor Tennis Krishna who knew me from my theatre days and introduced me to director Raj.
I went on to act in 40 films. Yet, opportunities did not come my way and I struggled. That was when I met director Nagendra Prasad and actor Sudeep.
Sudeep advised me not to waste my time doing small character roles, but to get into direction. He took me on as an assistant director for his film, No 23 Shanti Nivasa . I worked for barely a month and left abruptly as people mocked me and made fun of me on the sets. I was back to square one. This struggle continued for almost five to six years. Finally, I decided to become a director myself. I wrote a story and met all the top heroes. Everyone rejected me and my story.
Then I met a an NRI based in Russia online. He sent me an advance as he loved my story. He planned to send his son from Dubai to sign the contract. The son did not turn up. Eventually, on television we saw the plane from Dubai had crashed on landing in Mangaluru.
That poor man lost his son and his family in that crash — all six members. I did not have the guts to call him back. Dejected, I started harbouring suicidal thoughts. One night, I was lying in bed and wondering if the fan would sustain my weight.
Just as I was coming up with alternate plans, my younger brother (film director Tharun Sudhir) walked in to my room and asked me to drop him to a cricket match.
After dropping him, I was standing at the crossroads, thinking how I should end my life and heard a familiar voice behind me. It was Sudeep. Call it fate or some sort of soul tie. Everytime I am dejected and down, he is the first person to call me. Once again, he counselled me and took me back under his wing. We went back to his house and he asked me to work on Kempegowda , which went on to become a huge hit. Sudeep taught me the work, guided me and has been my mentor and godfather; he is my strength and my backbone.
Next, Sharan, also my childhood friend, got me an offer to direct Victory. That film also did very well. Today, I am grateful to Sharan and his team for standing by me. And, of course my younger brother and Sudeep who never ever gave up on me. Now I am doing Pogaru . It will be a mega film. In the film world, a director has to always be in the race. In case you lose the tempo, you are termed a loser, give the world a hit and it celebrates with you.
As told to Shilpa Sebastian R
