Dheeren Ramkumar: The intimacy in Shiva 143 is only a part of the story; it’s not what the film is all about

Dheeren Ramkumar has been preparing for his big-screen debut for a very long time, but now, with only days to go for his launchpad to hit theatres, the debutant is filled with mixed emotions. He’s beyond excited that audiences will finally get to see his hard work, but he’s nervous too as to how they will respond to this new actor from the Doddmane of Kannada cinema, Dr Rajkumar’s family. Dheeren is, after all, the grandson of the late matinee idol, as well as the son of veteran actor Ramkumar.

Dheeren’s debut vehicle is the film Shiva 143, directed by Raambo 2 maker Anil Kumar. The film is the Kannada adaptation of the 2018 Telugu film RX 100, a romantic action drama, in which the protagonist’s role is quite intense. Dheeren admits that getting into the skin of the character was quite challenging. “I didn’t want to take the easy way out with a routine college love story or so. I was waiting for a challenging role. When Anil brought this script, I thought this would be the right story to be launched with and took it as a challenge to get the nuances of the character right,” he says.

But Dheeren could not jump headlong into this project. “I needed to transform myself physically, which involved months of intense workouts, as well as growing out my hair and beard for a rough-and-tough look. It was only after I achieved the look we were aiming for and the team was confident that we could go ahead and make this film that we went on floors,” he explains.

The film has a fair bit of romance and intimacy, as far as the song featuring Dheeren and leading lady Manvitha Kamath go. “The song was a script requirement, but just because there is some level of intimacy doesn’t mean that the entire film is all about kissing and making out. It’s like they say, never judge a book by its cover. The romance and the song, is only a part of the film and the reason behind it will be explained in the course of the narrative,” says the actor, who’s even got a shirtless scene in the film, in which he sports six-pack abs.