Broadening his horizons

New star

Coming from a background where the father is a well-known actor; mother, a producer; uncle, a well-known comedian and brother, an actor, Gururaj Jaggesh may have got an easy entry into Kannada industry but he took it upon himself to train properly and work hard for his first break.

Having studied in the City, he moved to Mumbai for six months to train at the Kishore Namith Kapoor School.

“I could have had all the training I wanted at home itself but I wanted to head out and get a degree on paper,” says Guru, who is also now busy with dance classes and gymming.

His passion for movies is pretty obvious, he has acted as a child artiste, that of a young Jaggesh, in 12 movies, but more than acting he was interested in scripting and directing films. Fate, however, had a different plan and he got an opportunity to star in Gilli, a remake of a Tamil box-office hit, 7G Rainbow Colony.

“When the offer of Gilli came, I was physically 6 months shy of facing the camera but then again I did not want to miss out on an opportunity and everyone suggested that I take it,” explains Guru.    

Being son of Jaggesh, comparisons are bound to happen. “I agree. There will be comparisons but at the end of the day I would like to be seen as myself,” he says. At the same time, he also does not deny that there are advantages of being a star’s son, for the ‘extra treatment’ he gets, waking up in an AC room etc, “I don’t know how it is to be like a normal person’s kid but all these things never got to me. I have never once felt that I had to flaunt that my father is an actor. I owe this to my mother, as it is she who kept me grounded,” he says.

So did his dad give him any acting tips? “Truth be told, he has been very busy. But whenever we do spend some quality time together, he advises me on life. My dad has gone through and seen so much in life. I wish I’ve the same   strength as him,” he adds.
Guru enjoys watching all his dad’s movies but when you ask him about his father’s political career he says, “Acting has and will always be my dad’s first passion. Politics, according to me is just not his cup of tea.”

Apart from being a simple, grounded and realistic, Guru is an ardent reader, an extremely emotional person with an active imagination and he is using these qualities to pen his own film. “I have started writing my own movie and it is going to be an out and out comedy. This surely does not put a stop to my acting career as I would first like to see how this movie would do and take things accordingly,” says Guru.

Having just started his career, Guru does not believe in limiting himself to Kannada movies only. “Art is art, it has no barriers. If at all a time comes where I get a really good role in another industry, I would love to do it,” he adds. But till then Gururaj would like to be an open book.