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Stardom through the web route

Budding artiste Anish Padmanabhan speaks about pursuing his career in the Indian film industry and the experience of working in the web series Nisha.

A majority of Anish’s work belongs to the movies in Malayalam and Tamil. “I always had a thing where I had to become something in life. I used to watch a lot of films when I was young. What actually blew me was the first sequence where Maddy got introduced in ‘Endrendrum Punnagai’ song in Alaipayuthey where the entire audience was cheering and screaming at the theatre at seeing a new face on the screen. That’s when I thought the entertainment industry is where people do not expect anything from the other person. The only thing they expect is fun and entertainment that an actor gives you back. That is something that pulled me and from then I held on being an actor,” says Anish.

At the beginning of his career, Anish has performed a lot of small roles in various films. “On April 6, 2017 I received a call saying that there is an audition where Karthik Subbaraj will be the director of the film and that’s how Mercury happened”.

Anish explains that he always aspired to be a decent actor who has been recognised by the people. In Mercury, Anish says he never knew that he will be playing one of the lead roles. “I always had a list of certain directors with whom I wanted to work with and in that I think I have worked with one of them —Karthik Subbaraj”, relishes Anish.

When asked him about the experience of working with Prabhu Deva in Mercury, “Working with Prabhu Deva was a lifetime experience for me. I’m also a dancer, so whenever people ask me who is my favourite dancer the immediate answer from me was Prabhu Deva. I also had the opportunity to shake a leg with him for the promo of Mercury”.

Anish is playing a main lead in the web series Nisha, a psychological thriller which will be telecast in Tamil and premiering on Zee5 on October 18. He plays a character with a negative shade to it. “In this web series I felt that I could use the platform to perform as an actor and it was a crazy experience. My character has a breakthrough moment and a saturation point”.

Anish’s advice for all those the upcoming generation who aspire to become an actor is, “Have zero expectations. Cinema industry is a different world, don’t expect money, do everything if it comes your way and take challenges in a positive way”, Anish concludes.

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