More than a decade ago, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan made a guest appearance, playing himself in an inspiring role in Amruthadhare directed by Nagathihalli Chandrashekar, starring actor-turned-politician Ramya along with Sameer Dattani (Dhyan). While star actors have been making guest appearances, they mostly essay inspiring roles that change the outcome of the main protagonist or offer a twist in the tale. Lending voice for another film, singing a song, featuring in a dance or performing a rescue in a fight scene are the popular avatars of the cameo.
Kiccha Sudeep is not new to this. The actor who encourages young talent in the industry, has yet again done a special guest appearance as a successful business tycoon, inspiring the protagonist in the upcoming release Raju Kannada Medium. Other actors like senior actor Jaggesh made a cameo appearance in Mugulu Nage while actor Srii Murali recently did a cameo for Raj Vishnu and Darshan appeared briefly in Chowka. Bengaluru Chronicle reports on these cameos that take the film further.
“In our film Raju Kannada Medium, the script had a special requirement of an inspiring character, a successful business tycoon. We approached Kiccha Sudeep Sir, for a guest appearance as the brief role needed to be portrayed by a person with a strong personality. He sought the entire script as he wanted to know how he could do justice to the role. The entire film team was glad and even nervous after he agreed to be a part of our film,” says actor Guru Nandan, who plays the lead in Raju Kannada Medium. He shot to fame with his incredible performance in First Rank Raju, which talked about the shortcoming of the present education system. In this film, the focus is on the Kannada language.
Guru Nandan, further reveals that Kiccha will be seen as a business tycoon, who inspires the main character. “His cameo will come just before the interval, and later in a couple of scenes. The entire team was nervous on the day of the shoot but Sudeep Sir’s humble nature helped us. He (Kiccha), is a director apart from being a star actor but he would still guide us during the shoot, and it was so heartening to see him encourage a new team like ours. Though, the shoot was only two days, he would share his acting experiences. I learnt a lot from him as an actor,” says Guru Nandan.
Recently, noted senior actor Jaggesh had a special appearance in the film Mugulu Nage which marked the comeback of director Yogaraj Bhat and Golden Star Ganesh. According to the film team, Jaggesh, in his cameo, appears in a song and a couple of scenes imparting an important message. “Apart from drawing the fans of the star actor, the act of casting star actors in a guest appearance is to deliver an inspiring message, paving way for a positive twist in the tale. It is always nice to see one’s favourite actor making an appearance. As their presence is of great importance, many actors wisely chose to be a part of such scripts. If the role has nothing to do with an inspiring meaningful message, actors would accept it for the sake of friendship with producers or actors,” says Raghuram, a film director.
The latest in the series of cameos is Srii Murali in Raj Vishnu, and Challenging Star Darshan in Dwarkish’s 50th production venture Chowka. Srinagara Kitty has played several such cameos encouraging new talents. Several leading actors including Century Star Shivarajkumar, Puneeth Rajkumar, and others too have been an inspiration in films in the past.
