Kishore on Salman Khan’s Sikandar: Films with superstars help you build an audience

If the trailer of director AR Murugadoss’ Sikandar is anything to go, it would seem that Kannada actor Kishore, who is debuting in Hindi films with the Salman starrer, has a pivotal presence in the movie. Kishore, though, downplays it, saying that he’s barely a part of 10% of the film. “My character does have a conflict with Salman, and is also responsible for a certain emotional response,” says Kishore, who plays a cop yet again.

While the actor’s police roles are quite common in films across the south, for Hindi movie audiences it maybe new. Even so, one cannot help but wonder if Kishore is getting typecast. “It does happen, but only in the bigger, more commercial films,” says the actor, who played cop in films like Kannur Squad with Mammootty, Vettaiyan with Rajinikanth, Kantara with Rishab Shetty and so on and so forth.

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Sikandar is Kishore’s first with both Salman and Murugadoss, an opportunity that he reckons he got because of his body of work in Tamil cinema. Why did he agree to do the role though? “Working in films with big stars comes with its perks – you build an audience. A Salman fan, for instance, sees me in Sikandar and, if he likes the role, may be willing to watch a smaller film that I am in. It’s a long game, but one that I am counting on, given that I am turning filmmaker as well,” adds the actor.

Meanwhile, Sikandar is not the only release that Kishore has this week. The actor will also be seen in L2 Empuraan, which opens in theatres on March 27. He plays an Intelligence Bureau officer called Karthik, who is trying to figure out the identity and agenda of Mohanlal’s Khureshi Ab’raam. “I do not have combination scenes with Mohanlal, but will, instead, be seen with Tovino Thomas, who reprises her role as Jatin Ramdas in the Lucifer franchise. As an IB officer, I set certain things in motion, which has repercussions,” says the actor.