Dharmanna: Patience key to my journey

The actor, who dazzles in the recent Kannada film ‘Man of the Match’, speaks to Vivek M V about the difficulties of breaking into Sandalwood

Dharmanna Kadur can make people laugh in serious situations. In the recent Kannada film ‘Man of the Match’, an experimental effort from director Satya Prakash, he plays himself albeit donning a different role.

In the movie-within-a-movie, he is a confident youngster, who, following the success of his debut ‘Rama Rama Re’, has decided to produce a film for Nataraj S Bhat, another key character from the 2016 film. Dharmanna is unsure and annoyed with Nataraj’s approach of turning an audition into a film.

He laments taking up the project and curses many around the sets as things seem to fall apart quickly. Sure, the crisp and clean dialogues elevate his performance but Dharmanna is blessed with fine timing. “I honed that skill from theatre,” the actor tells Showtime.

“Theatre is a very participative medium. You get the reaction from the audience instantly. This helped me understand what kind of timing, reactions, and punch lines impress people,” he says, talking about his days at the Guru Institute in Hubballi under the guidance of Yashwanth Sardeshpande.

Dharmanna’s acting feels real thanks to his command of the language. “I did my MA in Journalism in Kannada. Humour, especially in cinema, loses its essence when you mix languages. The flavour lies in the original language so I am comfortable mostly with Kannada dialogues. I don’t break my head over learning English. As a comedian, I want to connect with the audience in Kannada and explore the rich nuances of the language, like incorporating Halegannada (old Kannada) in dialogues.”

The actor got his break with ‘Rama Rama Re’ from Satya. The duo, who trained under veteran actor TS Nagabharana, were classmates in Kadur, a small town in Chikkamagaluru district. “I have grown up watching plays all night in my hometown. My father and aunt would sing kolata and sobana padagalu. In school, I have acted in many plays like Kuvempu’s ‘Jalagara’, ‘Kalki’, and ‘Ondu Bogase Neeru’,” he recollects.

Despite the strong foundation, acting in front of the camera was far from easy for Dharmanna. “I wasted half a day for a single shot on my first day in ‘Rama Rama Re’ making. I told Satya to not waste his time and asked him to replace me. He showed faith in me and once I aced my shot, there was no looking back,” he says.

Dharmanna delivers an impact performance as a youngster who elopes with his lover in the intense road movie. “It was a realistic depiction of many youngsters from Kadur who would leave everything and run away from
the village. They don’t think of their future or consequences and I understood the mindset of the characters,” he explains.

His other best work was in Yogaraj Bhat’s ‘Mugulu Nage’, in which he left people in splits with his peculiar way of talking. “I auditioned for the role. I first acted as a mute guy but Bhatru then gave me an exact brief of the character. I aced it and he was impressed,” he says.

“Comedy comes naturally to me perhaps because right from school, I am used to talking a lot and making people laugh,” he says. “But my jokes aren’t offensive,” he is quick to point out.

Inspired by the successful careers of Narasimharaju, Dheerendra Gopal, and Balakrishna, he aims to cement his career in Sandalwood. “Couple of my big projects from the many lined up are ‘Garadi’ from Yogara Bhat and Darshan sir’s ‘Kranti’,” he says.

Patience is key for industry outsiders to make a mark in this cutthroat field, he opines.

“You can skip a meal but you need to be patient in the film industry. I have focused on my career and worked hard for 11 years to reach where I am today,” he wraps up.