'I lived the character'

Gandhinagar Grapevine

Actor Mithra says his latest project ‘Raaga’ has done well to break the monotony of the roles that he has been working on so far. It is the unique characterisation and a chance to work with director P C Shekar that got him to accept the role. This is the first time that Mithra is working on such a character. He says that working on this project is a dream come true for him. 

Mithra began his career in theatre where he has enacted all kinds of characters before he decided to enter the world of cinema. “I began my career in theatre and I’ve worked on 105 movies, but I’ve never stumbled upon such a unique character,” he says.

He points out that it was challenging to portray the character because he didn’t have a reference point. “I had to lend my own twist and interpretation to the character. I had to literally unlearn what I had learnt earlier. I also had to develop a particular kind of mannerism for the role. I lived the character,” says Mithra.

About producing the movie, Mithra says, “There are a lot of people who think that Kannada films aren’t of good quality, and I wanted to break that notion prevalent among people. So I decided to produce the movie and make it of the highest quality.”

He adds that as preparation for the role, he had to lose about 14 kg. “I followed a rigorous diet, attended swimming lessons and stuck to a strict workout regime to lose weight. It was tough but an interesting journey nevertheless,” recollects Mithra. The director had a definite idea about how he wanted the character to be, he says. “Director Shekar gave me books and sent me YouTube links to understand the body language and life of a visually impaired person. This helped me slip into the character and understand it in a better way,” he adds. 

Mithra feels his co-star Bhamaa lends a lot of weightage to the story. “Her character perfectly complements my role. She has intelligently developed her role,” he adds.