Arun Kumar’s mother wanted to see him on screen. “She would dress me up as Charlie Chaplin and I would act as him on stage and at home. I was so good that I also threw in a few comical magic acts to make it more fun. All this I did when I was barely eight or nine,” recalls Arun, who adds, “When most parents would tell their children to study, here was my mother, who would tell me to dance or act. Any dance or drama competition, she would be the first to register my name. Sadly, she passed away when I was in class nine.”
That is when Arun’s dreams too shattered as he had to study during the day and work in the evenings to support his father run the house. “I have worked in every field possible — petrol bunk, food delivery boy, electrician, mechanic, you name it I have done it,” shares Arun, who in spite of these hurdles completed his B Com and worked in an MNC but “felt trapped.”
“That was when I told my father I want to pursue my dream of becoming an actor. He was against it as we had no backing in the industry. Yet, I quit my job and started to pursue acting.”
Having no clue how to go about it, Arun would just hang around film studios and watch actors for hours till he mustered courage to approach the makers for a role. “I looked like a working professional and they said I did not look like an actor. They asked me to come in some get up. So I applied castor oil on my face and body and sat in the hot sun for hours to tan my skin. I grew my hair to shoulder length and also grew a beard. Then I approached the same person again and was asked to be a part of gang boys. These are the boys who are normally used for any group scene — dance, fights or just hang around the villain,” explains Arun.
After his first break as a gang boy, he was jobless for a year-and-a-half. “The longer the wait, the more determined I was to establish myself as a villain,” says the youngster, who idolises Vashistha Simha and Tiger Prabhakar.
“Finally, while I was hanging around one set, almost 14 months later, I got a role as a violinist in a film song. It was a music scene and I was to sit in the group of musicians. That was my second break, I became a permanent fixture as a gang boy,” shares Arun, who has now been a part of 30 films in fight and dance sequences.
He has also dabbled on the small screen, Nagini being the notable one where he again plays the bad man. “I was there in a couple of episodes in that.”
“You will see my face in films such as Mukunda Murari , Hebbuli , Kariya 2 and Mufti ” beams the youngster, who now looks forward to the release of films such as May 1st and Rudrakshipura. “ I play the villain, Chetan’s right hand man in Rudrakshipura,” s miles Arun, who is happy that he is now getting calls as he makes a “great rowdy” on screen. The next film is Tayige Takka Maga , which has Sumalatha in the lead. “I have a good role” is all he wants to share as of now.
