On my pinboard

Sunder Raj completed his schooling from National High School and later went to National College in Basavanagudi.

He began his career in the Kannada film industry with ‘Kaadu’. He is known for his roles in films like ‘Chandana Gombe’, ‘Bangarada Jinke’, ‘Praya Praya Praya’, ‘Kaliyuga’, ‘Style King’ and ‘Liftman’. He has also worked in Malayalam, Telugu, Hindi and Tamil language industries.

He will soon be seen in the films ‘Kanoorayana,’ ‘Dwaja’ and ‘Ayogya’ in Kannada. Sunder will be turning a director with ‘Paalu’, which he will also be producing.

Cinema

Dr Rajkumar

“When it comes to Kannada cinema, I have always admired Dr Rajkumar. He was someone who never promoted himself, yet he became an icon of Kannada cinema. He spoke Kannada in its purest form and it was always a pleasure to converse with him. Even when I met him at the age of 74, he was very warm and pleasant. He did theatre and sang as well. This made him a complete actor.”

Music

M S Subbulakshmi

“I have always enjoyed listening to classical music, but I’ve never had the good fortune to learn it. I also love cinema music because it can be easily understood and is pleasant to the ear. My all time-favourite musician is M S Subbulakshmi. She was an icon of Indian culture and Indian classical music. She would also sing a good mix of cinema songs as well. I can’t think of any other musician who can match up to her class.

Travel

Kodaikanal

“The first place that I visited when I was young was Kodaikanal. I enjoy holidaying in hill stations. I always yearn to return to places like Kodaikanal, Ooty and Nainital. There are so
many beautiful places in our country that I am yet to visit. I always make it a point to try the local cuisine of the place that I am visiting. This gives me an understanding of the culture and food habits of that region.”

Inspiration

H Narasimhaiah

“H Narasimhaiah was a simple man. He practised what he preached and would teach his students simple things in life that they could follow. He was a Gandhian and a professor of physics at National College in Basavanagudi. There were a few qualities about him that I really liked. He would walk, no matter how sick or tired he was and secondly, even though he was the vice-chancellor, he would cycle to college because he believed that it helped him stay fit. He told me that the country not only needed doctors, lawyers, engineers, and scientists but actors too. He encouraged me to become an actor.

Author

Mario Puzo

“I am not a voracious reader. But after I watched ‘The Godfather’, I was inspired to pick up Mario Puzo’s book by the same name and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. I managed to finish it in just two days. When I was reading the book, I could visualise every scene from the film. That was the first book I ever read. Another book that shaped my thoughts was
‘The Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand. I have now turned to reading books on spirituality.”

Food

Ladies’ finger

“I can eat ladies’ finger in just about any form. I enjoy eating the dry items made using ladies’ finger. I also like curd rice because that’s a dish that I can eat at any time of the day. ‘Upma’ is another dish that I never get tired of. There’s so much variety in vegetarian food, and I look forward to trying out as many items in that category as possible.”