At a time when most leading men are venturing into negative roles, Vasishta Simha, is taking the opposite route. The actor, who started with negative roles in films such as Raja Huli, Rudra Tandava and Alone got his breakthrough with Hemanth Rao’s Godi Banna, Sadharana Mykattu, where he plays the role of Ranga. His powerful yet subtle portrayal not only won him accolades and awards but also made Vasishta a sought-after actor.
He was soon sharing the screen with actors like Shiva Rajkumar and Upendra in films like Upendra Matte Baa, Mufti and Tagaru . He cemented his place in the industry with Dayavittu Gamanisi. And then came KGF Chapter 1 where he played one of the bad guys.
After KGF, one would have expected Vasishta to be flooded with negative roles. However, award-winning director Nagathihalli Chandrashekar saw him in a different mould and cast him as the leading man in his film India V/S England where the actor will play an NRI living in London. He had a makeover for this film. His signature curly locks are gone replaced by straight hair and a sleek hair cut.
“This is the first time I have gone for a complete image makeover with stylists. It has been a great experience working with Nagathihalli. I have a soft look in this film. We also worked on my diction as I had to sound like an NRI,” starts Vasishta, who also has Maya Bazar to look forward to and has a few “interesting subjects, including a Telugu film, a biopic on a gangster. I cannot reveal much about the project."
His baritone is unmissable. When complemented, Vasishta accepts and says that his voice has been his strength. The actor has in fact, created a name for himself as a singer too.
Ask him how he goes about choosing roles and films and he reveals, “The only thing I look for is that I should fall in love with the character. There have been roles in the past, which I felt was getting monotonous and repetitive and that was when a few experimental roles came my way. I was happy to take them up.”
He also has Kalachakra, which he is thrilled about. “It is the role of a lifetime. The film is well made. In fact, there was so much crying in this film for my character, that I felt I would be called the ‘male Shruti’ (Actor Shruti is known as the weeping queen in Kannada films). That role haunted me so much that I found it difficult to get out of that mode. It took me eight to nine days to get out of the skin of that character. India vs England is a film in which you will see me do a complete U-turn when it comes to my acting.”
The actor calls himself lucky. “I never dreamt of acting in films nor did I go after roles. Call it destiny. Things kept happening one after the other. I was content being a software engineer. Till date I don't know if I picked cinema or cinema picked me.”
Bengaluru 27/6/2018 Stills from the video 'Engineering Formula Anthem' with lyricist Pradeep Doddaiah and actor and singer Vasishta Simha who appear in the video song . E Mail handout
He shares how it all started. “A friend was making a film and I went to meet him. He offered me a small role, I was not convinced. He forced me telling to do it just for fun. I acted and forgot all about it. That film did not take off. Next came Arya's Love . I am indebted to this team for that was the film which taught me the nuances of filmmaking. I worked as an actor, still photographer, and singer for this. By then I also quit my job and was pursuing photography,” says the actor, who adds, “the set of Arya’s Love became my school.”
He shares the story of how he came to be a part of Godi Banna ... “I was called to audition for the film and was chosen to play the role that Rakshit played. But, since I was already established as an actor doing negative roles, everyone, including me, was apprehensive and when I was offered the role of the kidnapper, I took it up and was thrilled I did that particular role.”
