Sharan is grateful to Avatara Purusha co-star Ashika Ranganath and here’s why

Ten years ago, and after 99 films as a character/comedy artiste, Kannada actor Sharan turned hero with a home production called Rambo. Today, as he counts down to the release of Avatara Purusha, his 14th as leading man, which will be in theatres on May 6, Sharan says that he is immensely grateful to Ashika Ranganath, who’s been his heroine in Raambo 2 and this Suni directorial.

Speaking at the trailer launch and pre-release event of Avatara Purusha- part 1, Sharan said, “When I set out to turn hero, there were a lot of Kannada heroines who refused to be paired with me, which is why the team went looking for leading ladies in Bollywood. But even there, I faced a lot of rejections because they’d look at my comedy scenes on Youtube and judge me based on my earlier works. It’s taken a while for me to be well and truly accepted as a bonafide hero, so it means a lot to me when someone agrees to work with me without a second thought. Ashika Ranganath has done it twice already, having worked with me on Raambo 2 and now Avatara Purusha and I am immensely grateful to her for that.” The actor added that the fact that audiences have also been very welcoming of their pairing, is a bonus.

In the film, Sharan plays a junior cine artiste, who is hired by Ashika’s character to play the long-lost son of a couple – Ram Jois (Saikumar) and Susheela (Bhavya). Avatara Purusha is Sharan’s first film with director Suni and is being released in two parts. The first, which has the tagline Ashtadigbandana Mandalaka, also stars Saikumar, Bhavya, Sudharani, Srinagara Kitty, Ashutosh Rana, B Suresha, among others. The film, which has music by Arjun Janya and cinematography by William David, will be in theatres on May 6. The second part, Trishanku, is also expected to release later this year.