<p>We have heard stories of comedians having serious personalities. Nagabhushana NS is a tad different. He is naturally funny but is serious about the art form. He has a deep outlook to the job of making people laugh. It’s a great contribution to society, he tells Showtime.</p>.<p>“When people were anxious about the future during the peak of the pandemic, they turned to comedy to feel better. I am glad ‘Ikkat’ (2021) made people laugh and forget their worries, even if it was for a short while,” he says about the delightful Kannada lockdown comedy-drama. Nagabhushana is hilarious as a miserly small-town man in a troubled marriage in the film.</p>.<p>His humour has a pleasant quality. His easy-style is enhanced by witty lines and a dialogue delivery that’s marked by local flavour. He credits the ever-repeated ‘comic timing’ for his success but is quick to explain the phenomenon.</p>.<p>“During my stint in theatre, people told me I am blessed with fine timing. Humour lands well when you react smartly. It’s more about reaction than action and if you overdo it, your performance will be slapstick,” he notes.</p>.<p>But it’s just not this skill that makes him hilarious. Nagabhushana tries to connect with an average Kannadiga with his acts and this. “Firstly, I am happy to have got scripts that aren’t formulaic. I am mostly myself in front of the camera. I take the dialogues and make them my own by trying. I make them sound real, like how we speak at home or with friends and that’s why, perhaps, my characters don’t appear stagey,” he explains.</p>.<p>He nailed dark comedy in ‘Ikkat’, and the web series ‘Honeymoon’. He showed us how things can be subtly funny in serious situations in ‘French Biriyani’. A lot comes from observations, he says. “You just have to open your eyes and see the world closely. There is humour everywhere, even during a serious fist fight or a funeral. You cannot laugh then but you can incorporate the same humorous thoughts in cinema. That’s how dark humour works,” he says.</p>.<p>Nagabhushana turned writer with ‘Honeymoon’. It’s a simple relationship drama sprinkled with a good dose of situational comedy, crackling wordplay, and realistic conflicts.</p>.<p>“I drew references from my college days to write the protagonist’s small-town inhibitions and concerns. In college, I was hesitant to interact with girls until a point where I realised it’s not as tough as I thought it was to forge friendships with women. Believe it or not, I got many messages from men who said they had learnt to shed their conservative attitude and have a progressive outlook after watching the web series,” he recollects.</p>.<p>Having recently won the Best Debut Actor award for ‘Ikkat’ at SIIMA this year, Nagabhushana is happy to have made a mark in his profession amidst a host of stars. It’s refreshing to see him play the protagonist’s friend without the stereotypical traits of the character. “A hero’s friend shouldn’t be a punching bag. He should have a solid character graph,” says Nagabhushana. “We often see him sitting with the hero for a drinking session. He is made to always glorify the protagonist. I refused to do a film that had a scene in which the hero had to kick his friend for no reason. I told the makers if they thought it was comedy then they were wrong. It’s time we move on from such ideas,” he says.</p>.<p>Jokes are often made about his short stature but the actor doesn’t have a problem with self-deprecating humour as long as it doesn’t cross the line.</p>.<p>“Such jokes must be made depending on the situation because otherwise, it will offend people. However, I feel we have lost the charm of innocent humour, often seen in rural areas. Like how the American comedian George Carlin would say, we have put a label for everything and that sometimes robs us off from simple humour. That said, it’s important to strike a balance between brutal honesty and restrained sensitivity in humour,” he points out.</p>.<p>He is hungry to explore all kinds of characters and continues to write stories for films. As his career goes on the ascent, Nagabhushana is determined to consistently evaluate his performances. “It’s my job to pick the right scripts. If things don’t work, I need to analyse my choices,” he signs off.</p>.<p><strong>From teacher to Panchayat official to actor</strong></p>.<p>Born in Tagarapura village in Chamarajnagar, Nagabhushana did his schooling in the district before moving to Mysuru to pursue engineering.</p>.<p>After plying his trade in teaching and as a Panchayat Development Officer (PDO), he explored theatre in Delhi as he felt he belonged to that field.</p>.<p>He returned to Rangayana in Mysuru to continue doing plays and later worked as an assistant director and executive producer. Nagabhushana’s comedy sketches in the KEB YouTube channel grabbed eyeballs from the industry and he got a break in acting with ‘Sankashta Kara Ganapathi’ (2018).</p>
<p>We have heard stories of comedians having serious personalities. Nagabhushana NS is a tad different. He is naturally funny but is serious about the art form. He has a deep outlook to the job of making people laugh. It’s a great contribution to society, he tells Showtime.</p>.<p>“When people were anxious about the future during the peak of the pandemic, they turned to comedy to feel better. I am glad ‘Ikkat’ (2021) made people laugh and forget their worries, even if it was for a short while,” he says about the delightful Kannada lockdown comedy-drama. Nagabhushana is hilarious as a miserly small-town man in a troubled marriage in the film.</p>.<p>His humour has a pleasant quality. His easy-style is enhanced by witty lines and a dialogue delivery that’s marked by local flavour. He credits the ever-repeated ‘comic timing’ for his success but is quick to explain the phenomenon.</p>.<p>“During my stint in theatre, people told me I am blessed with fine timing. Humour lands well when you react smartly. It’s more about reaction than action and if you overdo it, your performance will be slapstick,” he notes.</p>.<p>But it’s just not this skill that makes him hilarious. Nagabhushana tries to connect with an average Kannadiga with his acts and this. “Firstly, I am happy to have got scripts that aren’t formulaic. I am mostly myself in front of the camera. I take the dialogues and make them my own by trying. I make them sound real, like how we speak at home or with friends and that’s why, perhaps, my characters don’t appear stagey,” he explains.</p>.<p>He nailed dark comedy in ‘Ikkat’, and the web series ‘Honeymoon’. He showed us how things can be subtly funny in serious situations in ‘French Biriyani’. A lot comes from observations, he says. “You just have to open your eyes and see the world closely. There is humour everywhere, even during a serious fist fight or a funeral. You cannot laugh then but you can incorporate the same humorous thoughts in cinema. That’s how dark humour works,” he says.</p>.<p>Nagabhushana turned writer with ‘Honeymoon’. It’s a simple relationship drama sprinkled with a good dose of situational comedy, crackling wordplay, and realistic conflicts.</p>.<p>“I drew references from my college days to write the protagonist’s small-town inhibitions and concerns. In college, I was hesitant to interact with girls until a point where I realised it’s not as tough as I thought it was to forge friendships with women. Believe it or not, I got many messages from men who said they had learnt to shed their conservative attitude and have a progressive outlook after watching the web series,” he recollects.</p>.<p>Having recently won the Best Debut Actor award for ‘Ikkat’ at SIIMA this year, Nagabhushana is happy to have made a mark in his profession amidst a host of stars. It’s refreshing to see him play the protagonist’s friend without the stereotypical traits of the character. “A hero’s friend shouldn’t be a punching bag. He should have a solid character graph,” says Nagabhushana. “We often see him sitting with the hero for a drinking session. He is made to always glorify the protagonist. I refused to do a film that had a scene in which the hero had to kick his friend for no reason. I told the makers if they thought it was comedy then they were wrong. It’s time we move on from such ideas,” he says.</p>.<p>Jokes are often made about his short stature but the actor doesn’t have a problem with self-deprecating humour as long as it doesn’t cross the line.</p>.<p>“Such jokes must be made depending on the situation because otherwise, it will offend people. However, I feel we have lost the charm of innocent humour, often seen in rural areas. Like how the American comedian George Carlin would say, we have put a label for everything and that sometimes robs us off from simple humour. That said, it’s important to strike a balance between brutal honesty and restrained sensitivity in humour,” he points out.</p>.<p>He is hungry to explore all kinds of characters and continues to write stories for films. As his career goes on the ascent, Nagabhushana is determined to consistently evaluate his performances. “It’s my job to pick the right scripts. If things don’t work, I need to analyse my choices,” he signs off.</p>.<p><strong>From teacher to Panchayat official to actor</strong></p>.<p>Born in Tagarapura village in Chamarajnagar, Nagabhushana did his schooling in the district before moving to Mysuru to pursue engineering.</p>.<p>After plying his trade in teaching and as a Panchayat Development Officer (PDO), he explored theatre in Delhi as he felt he belonged to that field.</p>.<p>He returned to Rangayana in Mysuru to continue doing plays and later worked as an assistant director and executive producer. Nagabhushana’s comedy sketches in the KEB YouTube channel grabbed eyeballs from the industry and he got a break in acting with ‘Sankashta Kara Ganapathi’ (2018).</p>
