Ramana Avatara: Lead actor Rishi’s transition from theatre to cinema involved a lot of unlearning

The Kannada actor is set to make his Telugu web series debut with Shaitan, after which he will release his film, Ramana Avatara

Rishi 

Kannada actor Rishi does not have a filmi background, so he took the long route to get into cinema, starting with theatre, TV and then the big screen. An engineer by profession, adapting to each of these formats came with their own challenges, he said, speaking to Prajavani. “With every format there is a challenge and you have to adapt to the format that you want to follow. That was a constant learning process. In fact, when I got into cinema, I had to unlearn a lot of what I learnt in theatre, because cinema requires a different skill set altogether,” he said, explaining that in theatre, physical expression is of utmost importance, as one has to convey the essence of the scene to audiences spread across the auditorium. With TV or cinema, for that matter, if there is a close-up shot, the expression can be limited to the eyes or mouth, he reckons. “You have to be flexible with adaptability and that is a constant process,” he reasons.

In fact, Rishi says that the process of adapting has to continue with every movie and character. “You have to understand the character and the vision that the director has for that role. Every day is a new learning and as an artiste, you can sit back and say, ‘Oh, I know what to do’. You have to keep discovering new facets of acting. And that is probably what has kept me engaged in acting,” he says.

The actor is currently awaiting the release of his debut web series, Shaitan, which will begin streaming on Disney+Hotstar on June 15. The Telugu original show will be available with Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi audio as well. Rishi’s Kannada film Ramana Avatara is also ready for release, which he will bring to theatres a few weeks after Shaitan.

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