Exclusive! J Karthik: I said I was quitting acting to gauge if I have any support in the industry; turns out, I don’t

In May this year, during the release promotions of his film Iravan, Kannada actor J Karthik announced his decision to quit the film industry. Disillusioned with a concerted effort to hamper his acting career at the hands of certain people within the industry, Karthik, had said that he was looking at focusing on other professional options, considering that he was a structural engineer prior to getting into acting. Karthik, who has had fairly decent outings in Hindi TV too, with serials like Siya Ke Ram and Ali Baba-Dastaan-E-Kabul, has always prioritized work in Kannada films, which, however did not work out as well as he hoped for. And the final straw came when the team of Iravan was negotiating post-theatrical rights sales.

J Karthik on his decision to quit showbiz: People are blocking my opportunities, which has come to my attention 

“Deals would fall through at the last moment, as if someone was telling them not to do business with us. I was really hurt and angered by this, so I made this statement about quitting acting to check who are my real friends in the industry. I reckoned that those who genuinely cared for me would reach out and offer their support. And then I realized that no one would stand up for me. It finally hit me that I should not depend on anyone and that I should look out for myself. That’s when I decided to launch my banner JK Films and announce the first project, Om Tat Sat,” JK, as the actor is popularly known, tells us.

The announcement poster of the film, which will be directed by Nagendra Urs, with whom JK had done May 1 earlier, has the actor sporting boxing gloves, implying that it would be a tale of a boxer. Turns out, it is not. Karthik, who’s been a fitness enthusiast for many years, is set to present a motivational story of a professional body builder. “When I release the first look, audiences will realise what aspect of the concept of body building we are focusing on in the film,” he says, adding that the impact of adulterated food will be a talking point. Om Tat Sat will go on floors by the end of January and will be shot in Bengaluru and Mangaluru in around 40 days.

Although Karthik is one of the fittest actors in the Kannada industry, he does not exactly have the ‘cuts’ bodybuilders sport. “I have a neat physique, but I need to transform myself to look like a bodybuilder. For instance, to get that ripped and well-defined muscular look, for a few weeks, the focus will be on removing water content from the body. This is not something that you can do continuously, as it is the unhealthiest thing to do to yourself. Even professional body builders look all ripped only on competition days,” explains the actor.

Considering that both his Hindi serials gave him fairly good visibility in that industry, why didn’t he look at shifting base to Mumbai and pursuing more work there? “Honestly, if I had done that, I would have done far better in my career than I have so far, but for some strange reason I was afraid of making that move. Something was stopping me from going,” he says.