PremiumAs much as I love Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana, I will never make a multi-starrer: Vikrant Rona star Kiccha Sudeep
The actor shares his views on the concept of ensemble films in this exclusive chat
Last Updated: 06.05 PM, Jul 04, 2022
It would be a stretch to say that Kiccha Sudeep has seen it all through the 25 years of his acting career. What began on a slightly disappointing note with respect to lack of any considerable success, the actor turned things around through Huchcha in 2001 and forged a unique career for himself. Many reckoned Sudeep as a bankable star not only for his striking on-screen presence but also for his potential as an actor, which was put on display in almost every single film. Today, two-and-a-half decades down the line, Sudeep stands tall as one of the biggest stars of Kannada Cinema, and thanks to his success in the Telugu and Hindi film industries, he commands equal respect from all corners.
But interestingly, Sudeep has refrained from being part of multistarrer films over the course. Sure, he has played short but key roles in films like Mukunda Muraari and Baahubali: The Beginning, along with Dabangg 3 and the Tamil film Puli (starring Vijay) wherein he starred as the chief antagonist, but these gigs could be categorized as “friendly collaborations”, if you will, and nothing beyond. One could also suggest that Sudeep wasn’t offered credible scripts featuring an ensemble cast along the way but turns out, the actor himself isn’t all that keen on being part of a setup like that!
“I have always felt that multistarrer films do not do enough justice to each actor who’s part of it. You can expect the audience to walk out of the cinema hall enjoying the film, the on-screen camaraderie of the cast, etc. but is most likely to recall a single actor or performance of the lot as its favorite. And I am not comfortable with that for some reason. It takes years of striving for an actor to forge a career and gain that audience’s trust over the years but ensemble films don’t do justice to all the hard work because a script may fail to project each actor in the same manner,” says the Vikrant Rona actor.
And yet, Kiccha Sudeep did not shy away from showering praise on Raj B. Shetty’s Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana which, in pure essence, is a multi-lead film. If there’s any likelihood of Sudeep himself directing a film of that kind, what would the casting choices be like? He says:
“As much as I love that film, I don’t suppose I will ever make something of that kind. Mainly because it’s been done already, and plus, I don’t conceive such story worlds with more than one protagonist”.
Sudeep has teamed with director Anup Bhandari for Vikrant Rona, a mega 3D spectacle that’s releasing across the globe on July 28. The actor is joined by Nirup Bhandari, Neetha Ashok, and others with Shalini and Jack Manjunath serving as producers and Alankar Pandian as the co-producer. You can watch the trailer of the film here:
