The description ‘Real star’ suits actor Upendra to the T. The Bengaluru-based man is not just a star in Kannada cinema, admired for his acting and charisma, but also respected for keeping his feet firmly rooted in reality. During the lockdown, Upendra has taken to farming aggressively in his land near Ramanagara. He promotes organic farming through videos on Facebook and YouTube, encouraging farmers to follow suit and avoid using chemicals and pesticides.
“I have always been fascinated with farming and would watch videos on farming,” says Upendra, who has directed hit films like Shhh!, A, Tarle Nan Maga, H20, Upendra Matte Baa and the landmark film OmI to name a few . “I have followed Dr L Narayana Reddy and BM Hegde’s talks on natural farming and the adulteration in our food. I feel farmers have been misled by the idea that fertiliser is good for our crops: it is so wrong. Fertiliser does not boost the growth of crops, instead we are feeding ourselves chemicals. We have also killed our land with these poisons. As a result our land starts to dry out faster and we end up needing more water to keep it moist.”
Upendra says we should let the crops grow with worms, ants and butterflies. “Farming should be as natural as possible. Why should we meddle with Nature? Why are we covering crops with plastic or shields? Did our creator use plastic to grow our forests? Man’s mind gets corrupted very fast. I feel our mind is the root cause of most of our problems. Take our health for instance, we feed our body with chicken which is grown in a month with injections. We are injecting poison and feeding ourselves the same too. We need to change all this.” He adds, “We should use manure. Ash can be used to protect our crops. Even people working with me on my farm had to be convinced that we do not need fertilisers to grow crops.”
The actor is in favour of growing multiple crops simultaneously, irrespective of the size of the land. “Each crop needs a different kind of mineral from the land. That way the land is also not burdened to yield tonnes of the same kind of crop and the soil also can give back more.”
The star is thrilled that the industry has started to work again. He will resume work on the much-talked about Kabzaa , directed by R Chandru. “We will start shooting soon. Right now the team is working on the logistics of working within the health guidelines. Chandru has something spectacular in his mind. Everything, from sets, clothes, hair and vehicles, will have a different look.”
Back on set
Prod him to elaborate and he says with a laugh, “I play an underworld don. If I say anything more then the surprise element will be lost. It has to seen and experienced rather than spoken about.” The film will be released simultaneously in multiple languages.
