A milestone in the Kannada film industry — Amarashilpi Jakanachari will be the first full length Kannada colour feature film that sees the legendary Kalyan Kumar, one of South India’s biggest stars, in the lead. His grandson Yuvraj Kalyankumar, an engineer who worked for two reputed IT companies for over six years is finally realising his true passion — acting in his debut film Pattabhisheka which is ready to hit the screens. Yuvraj looks back at the fond memories with his legendary grandfather Kalyan Kumar, his decision to quit his IT job and much more.
“Acting has been a part of my family since my grandfather’s heydays. I always dreamt of acting since school but my parents insisted that I finish my studies. I would usually accompany my grandpa to theatres, dramas and on rare occasions, for film shoots too. After completing engineering, I joined an IT company and worked for over six years. After a point, I could not carry on the monotony of the job anymore, and decided to follow my passion — acting. I quit a year ago, and started working on acting, learnt dance and honed my skills for fight sequences too,” says Yuvraj.
Unlike his father Dwarakanath, who restricted himself to theatre, and has rarely been seen in commercial movies, Yuvraj reveals that he actually acted in a commercial film at a very young age alongside his grandfather which unfortunately never released.
“My father had witnessed my grandfather’s career which had many ups and downs. He was a bit skeptical, and decided to steer away from commercial cinema, and that was one of the reasons he insisted that I finish my education before I took up acting as full-time career,” Yuvraj says, recollecting his first ever acting experience alongwith his grandfather. “It was in sixth standard, I got an opportunity to work along with grandpa. However, it was not a cake walk as he took my audition. He has also directed a few films. I had to convince him about my role as a blind person — by walking as visually challenged person. Only then was I selected for the role. He was very strict on the sets, and never spared me. It was a great but tough experience. I felt that it was not the right time for me to take up acting,” he shares.
Yuvraj did his schooling in Kumaran and finished his mechanical engineering from Bengaluru Institute of Technology. In Pattabhisheka, Yuvraj plays a simple village guy with a Mandya dialect. “As a tribute to the legend, a song from one of his popular movie Muthaide Bhagya is being remixed with a few changes in the lyrics to suit the present context, stressing the need for speaking in Kannada,” he adds. And what’s most interesting is that the same team is also planning another movie and will be announced on the release day of Pattabhisheka.
