JOIN USShashank Purushotham freelances as an actor, director, trainer, lighting designer, make-up and voice-over artiste. A trained theatre professional, he actually holds an education in dentistry.
An introvert and reserved child studying at the National Public School, he recollects that a small role in one of the school plays triggered an interest in performing arts. In fact, he actually left home at 14 in the pursuit of acting, but luckily returned and moved on.
“My first break came with a play for Bangalore Little Theatre (BLT), where I played a role of a person who was 10,000 years old from the Dwaparayuga. Naturally, it was really hard to manage the beard and a critic actually pointed out that I spoke like I had marbles in my mouth. I was dejected, but it also pushed me to work harder,” Shashank reminisces.
Post this, he landed a series of plays and admits Vijay Padaki mentored him largely, especially in English theatre. As an actor he has performed all over India as well as abroad in over 40 productions with various English language theatre groups based in Bengaluru. He is also actively involved in Kannada folk theatre under the guidance of veteran theatre person B Jayashree.
Shashank’s first appearance on stage was with BLT in 2006 in the play Kurukshetra Burning, and has been part of many other BLT productions such as The Magic Drum, The Ungrateful Man, The Anklet and Buzzwords. He also learned to sing in Kannada for a role in Sadarame, a play that premiered at the Ranga Shankara festival in 2008. “I have performed all over India and abroad in more than 40 plays with various theatre groups based in Bengaluru. Some of the renowned directors I have worked with include Prakash Belawadi, Vijay Padaki, Padmavathi Rao, Phyllis Bose, Arundathi Raja, Arjun Sajnani and Srijit Mukherjee to mention a few.”
Known for the role of Chintadri in T N Seetharam’s political drama, Mahaparva, television happened to him quite by chance and it was not a cakewalk. “I had auditioned for two television shows and after the first day of shoot I was asked to go home as they told me my Kannada was not polished. That’s when I decided to explore other aspects of theatre including set design, lighting and makeup,” Shashank explains. The offer to do the show came from colleague Surendranath of Ranga Shankara who suggested his name for the role. “Honestly, I took it up as a change from the scene, without expecting anything out of it. But after the show got popular, I seemed to have become popular among audiences.” The show itself was a political satire that captures the current political scene in the country. “He had written out a rather interesting character for me — of an educated underworld don, who is sophisticated as well. He quotes from English literature and at times speaks in English too, even though the show is in Kannada. I feel it is the character that has struck a chord among the audience.”
He is looking ahead to the release of his experimental Kannada film Shuddhi where he plays a prominent role. “I am planning to open my own production house soon and I have made plans to do a couple of short films with some good friends. I have also written the screenplay for a movie and I am hoping to direct a movie soon. It’s been on the table for four years now so perhaps this will be the right time for it.” This apart, he is also busy with organising theatre workshops and basically doing multiple things which are all keeping him super busy.