Bengaluru: He’s been acting for 40 years —having started as a child actor — but if there is one film that south actor Sai Kumar credits for his popularity, it is the Kannada film Police Story. “Today, any stage that I go to, I am seen as a policeman, only because of the film, which was a massive hit, not just in Kannada, but in Telugu and Tamil as well in the dubbed versions,” says the actor.
The impact of the role continues, says Sai Kumar. “Recently, I was called upon to be the brand ambassador for the police force of Andhra Pradesh. And this honour came to be only because of what Karnataka gave me,” he says proudly.
Sandalwood’s Dialogue King adds that the Kannada industry has been good to him in the nearly 75 films he has done here. “In other industries, I have moved on to doing character and antagonist roles, but not in Kannada. The reason behind that is the positive image I have gained and I want to keep that going,” says the actor. His next release, RangiTaranga, will do just that.”
The director, Anup (Bhandari) is very passionate about his work. He may not change the face of Kannada cinema, but his film will definitely bring in a new dimension. The script is very interesting — it has a lot of hues and emotions. My character is very strong, yet underplayed. I enjoyed every moment of working on this film,” says Sai Kumar.
Such is his confidence in the subject that the actor believes it will bring him his first award in Kannada cinema. “I did get an award for Police Story, albeit for its Telugu version. My character in RangiTaranga should open my account here,” he says and adds, “A good film is truly good only if it pays commercially. True, there is a mental satisfaction in making a good film, but Anup deserves a big break. Guys like him need to make more films.”
