<p>This picture was taken in our house-cum-shop in Chamrajpet in the city in 1970. I was two years old when this picture was taken and with me are my mother Anasuya and brother Sudhindra, who is two years older than me.<br /><br /></p>.<p>I am dressed like a girl in this picture because my father was so sure that his second child would be a girl that he even bought new clothes for the baby. On the day this picture was taken, my father dressed me up like a girl in the morning before he left and asked a photographer to come by later in the day to take a family portrait. <br /><br />Unfortunately, when the photographer came my father was out and couldn’t return until his work was done. So the picture has only the three of us. <br /><br />I vividly recall my childhood and growing up years. We were very a poor but happy family. My father and mother had moved in from Kundapur with my brother (before I was born) to Benglauru to make a living. Bengaluru was a new place for them and they worked very hard to make both ends meet but they never let my brother or me know the hardship. <br />My father was a cook at weddings and they also owned a small shop which they ran together. <br /><br />I treasure the time spent with my parents and my brother. My mother had studied till class seven and was very strict with us kids. My brother was the more obedient one and I the mischievous one. We would return from school and play for an hour. After freshening up, we had to sing our ‘bhajans’, and study for two hours before we had dinner and went to bed.<br /><br />As we grew older, my brother went to Industrial Training Institutes and later joined the Border Security Force (BSF) and I started doing some odd jobs after school just to financially support the family. I became independent and responsible from a young age, especially after my brother left Bengaluru. He and I have grown up more like friends. We would fight but were close. It was my brother who bought me my first bike — a moped.<br /><br />My father Manjunath Rao was a calm man who wouldn’t get worked up even under tremendous pressure. He always made decisions with a clear mind. He was very clear about his income and what he could afford to buy us and what he couldn’t. He never went out of his way to do anything for us, just to please us. He brought us up in a simple way and never gave us any false hope. I didn’t relate to his sentiments when I was a child but as I grew older, I realised how much he had struggled to send us to school and give us a good life. <br /><br />We would never get to spend much time with our father and I would get to see him for the longest time only when he cut my hair. Those days a haircut cost Rs 5 and my father would cut my hair just to save on spending that amount. <br /><br />My interest in theatre grew deeper when I entered college. I would write, direct and act in plays for ‘Yuvasree’, a small theatre troupe, started by my friends and me. We actively performed during the ‘Ganesha’ festival and during ‘Karnataka Rajyotsava’ celebrations. We also had a drama group in college. We participated in many inter-college theatre and drama competitions and won several prizes. <br /><br />My family and friends noticed my interest for cinema and encouraged me to enter the film industry very early on in my life. It was at this time that actor Kashinath spotted me and introduced me to the world of cinema. I haven’t looked back since.<br /><br />Upendra (actor) <br />(As told to Nina C George) <br /></p>
<p>This picture was taken in our house-cum-shop in Chamrajpet in the city in 1970. I was two years old when this picture was taken and with me are my mother Anasuya and brother Sudhindra, who is two years older than me.<br /><br /></p>.<p>I am dressed like a girl in this picture because my father was so sure that his second child would be a girl that he even bought new clothes for the baby. On the day this picture was taken, my father dressed me up like a girl in the morning before he left and asked a photographer to come by later in the day to take a family portrait. <br /><br />Unfortunately, when the photographer came my father was out and couldn’t return until his work was done. So the picture has only the three of us. <br /><br />I vividly recall my childhood and growing up years. We were very a poor but happy family. My father and mother had moved in from Kundapur with my brother (before I was born) to Benglauru to make a living. Bengaluru was a new place for them and they worked very hard to make both ends meet but they never let my brother or me know the hardship. <br />My father was a cook at weddings and they also owned a small shop which they ran together. <br /><br />I treasure the time spent with my parents and my brother. My mother had studied till class seven and was very strict with us kids. My brother was the more obedient one and I the mischievous one. We would return from school and play for an hour. After freshening up, we had to sing our ‘bhajans’, and study for two hours before we had dinner and went to bed.<br /><br />As we grew older, my brother went to Industrial Training Institutes and later joined the Border Security Force (BSF) and I started doing some odd jobs after school just to financially support the family. I became independent and responsible from a young age, especially after my brother left Bengaluru. He and I have grown up more like friends. We would fight but were close. It was my brother who bought me my first bike — a moped.<br /><br />My father Manjunath Rao was a calm man who wouldn’t get worked up even under tremendous pressure. He always made decisions with a clear mind. He was very clear about his income and what he could afford to buy us and what he couldn’t. He never went out of his way to do anything for us, just to please us. He brought us up in a simple way and never gave us any false hope. I didn’t relate to his sentiments when I was a child but as I grew older, I realised how much he had struggled to send us to school and give us a good life. <br /><br />We would never get to spend much time with our father and I would get to see him for the longest time only when he cut my hair. Those days a haircut cost Rs 5 and my father would cut my hair just to save on spending that amount. <br /><br />My interest in theatre grew deeper when I entered college. I would write, direct and act in plays for ‘Yuvasree’, a small theatre troupe, started by my friends and me. We actively performed during the ‘Ganesha’ festival and during ‘Karnataka Rajyotsava’ celebrations. We also had a drama group in college. We participated in many inter-college theatre and drama competitions and won several prizes. <br /><br />My family and friends noticed my interest for cinema and encouraged me to enter the film industry very early on in my life. It was at this time that actor Kashinath spotted me and introduced me to the world of cinema. I haven’t looked back since.<br /><br />Upendra (actor) <br />(As told to Nina C George) <br /></p>