Inside the mind of Rangayana Raghu

The seasoned actor speaks to Vivek M V on his journey as one of Kannada cinema's most dependable actors

Rangayana Raghu doesn’t like people calling him a comedian, and rightly so. He is a powerhouse performer, who seems more enthusiastic than ever to overcome the curse of the stereotype. The signs of change are evident with ‘Badava Rascal’ and ‘Family Pack’. But for people to remember the films as vividly as his acting, directors must strive to match their stories with his talent.

‘Family Pack’, which dropped on Amazon Prime Video a couple of weeks ago, puts Raghu in two tricky and fresh roles. Spoiler alert: He plays a romantic in the flashback before becoming a ghost who helps the protagonist (Likith Shetty) overcome his rocky personal life.

The film has a solid idea but it is torn apart by director Arjun Kumar’s inability to script a film that does justice to one genre. Even as it struggles to hold our interest through its comedy, drama and emotional portions, Raghu stands out, like he always does.

“I don’t consider myself a comedian. Humour should add meaning to the story. More than separate tracks for comedy, I am a fan of organic, humorous situations that blend well with the plot. That’s when I get thrilled and pull out my bag of tricks. I try to enhance the funny dialogues,” he tells Showtime.

With decades of experience, has it become easy for him to make people laugh? “It’s all about understanding the depth of the scene,” he says. “In some places, you must generate gentle smiles but some scenes demand you to create big laughs. You need to understand this difference,” he notes.

‘Cyanide’ (2006), ‘Director’s Special’ (2013) and ‘Badava Rascal’ (2021) show his calibre as a character artiste. In ‘Cyanide’, a film on the hunting down of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassins, he plays a Tamil Eelam supporter who is also worried about his wife’s safety. If he is a flawed and greedy man in ‘Director Special’, Raghu gives a stark portrayal of a middle-class father and a hard-working auto driver in ‘Badava Rascal’.

“I first look at the reliability factor,” says Raghu about his characters. “My character must first relate to people. Once I am convinced about that, I work on different types of acting such as being realistic, melodramatic. Sometimes, I exaggerate to do justice to the nature of the character,” he explains.

In films of seasoned directors Yogaraj Bhat (‘Paramathma’ and ‘Panchatantra’) and Suri (‘Duniya’, and ‘Junglee’), Raghu exudes a strange yet terrific energy that even overshadows the protagonists. It’s as if we are witnessing the magic of all the nine rasas of acting.

“I don’t do it unnecessarily,” says Raghu about his style. “Every character will have a subtext. I ask the director why he behaves and talks in a certain way. I try to know his background. My expressions are based on this information,” he says. This technique is also inspired from his vast theatre experience, he adds. His range, which was honned at the theatre group Rangayana in Mysuru in the late 80s, has managed to impress all age groups.

Raghu says he loves the process of understanding the character trait from his director. “For example, Arjun and I decided to not show the ghost in a typical manner. We didn’t want it to be dressed in white with exaggerated make-up. We wanted to keep it natural. So I wear day-to-day clothes and have feelings like any other human being,” says Raghu.

“With Bhatru and Suri, I work on the dialogues and attitude of the characters because those are their strengths,” he adds.

Raghu doesn’t mention it but the truth remains that he has been boxed in hackneyed comic characters. He is also an extremely busy actor, featuring in almost every Kannada film.

“The process does get mechanical at times,” he admits. “That’s when I wish a director approaches me with a fresh role. I get the motivation to plunge into the character,” he says. It’s high time more filmmakers do justice to his impeccable skills