Poornachandra Mysore: 10 years of an underrated actor

Jamoon Ravi (‘Tagaru’), Bablu (‘Popcorn Monkey Tiger’), Sulthankeri Usman (‘Daredevil Mustafa’), Ganapa (‘Badava Rascal’) and Poorna (‘Orchestra Mysuru’) are some of the interesting roles Poornachandra Mysore can be seen in. In a career spanning 10 years (‘Lucia’ being his first) he has featured in about 21 films. He has four interesting roles lined up — a cab driver in ‘Maryade Prashne’, a journalist in ‘Nimitta Maatra’, a don in ‘Family Drama’ and a village boy in ‘Anna from Mexico’. In a conversation with Showtime, the actor, fondly called Poorna, talks about the different roles he has played, how he prepares for them and his journey in the industry. 

“Preparing for a role differs from character to character, like cooking biryani and bisibelebath, they need their own ingredients.”

Poorna looks for references around him to get into a character. For ‘Orchestra Mysuru’ which is about a struggling orchestra singer he chose to take his friend (Daali) Dhananjaya as a reference. This, despite it being close to his personal story. “I had closely observed his character growth and his struggles. I knew his behaviour and how he reacted to situations. So he was my reference because he is as humble as the protagonist in ‘Orchestra…’. I’m not that humble,” says Poorna who also co-wrote the film.

But he admits he struggles with certain roles. He gives the example of his character in ‘Nimitta Maatra’. In the film he plays an alcoholic journalist with multiple psychological issues. “In such instances, I watch films to understand how a senior actor has approached a character like this,” he adds. If he takes inspiration from a Hollywood film, he believes it’s important to stitch it with an Indian perspective, for it to work. “So, it differs from character to character. It is like cooking biryani and bisibelebath — they need their own ingredients,” he opines.

Poorna plays a cab driver in ‘Maryade Prashne’. “I’ve observed many cab drivers but when I got into the driver’s seat to play the role, my mind went blank — what is his behaviour? What does he do?” says Poorna. Observing a cab driver while shooting the film helped him with the details. “The driver got out of the car and pulled his pants up. This was a small but important detail. But I cannot simply pull my pants up because he did it. I need context, why did he do it? He must’ve been sitting in the cab for a long time, his shirt must’ve gone up, his pants must have slipped below his waist. This kind of body language becomes very important in portraying a character. Everybody has an everyday body language, capturing that and reflecting it on camera becomes a challenge,” he says. 

“I loved playing Sulthankeri Usman in Daredevil Mustafa. I grew up in and around Mysuru’s Mandi Mohalla. While playing cricket, I had come across many people like Usman. I grew up watching them and I also knew the language, so it was easy for me to get into the character."

“Actors draw inspiration from a very close circle or from far away”

Everybody wants to be a superstar while growing up, says Poorna with a chuckle. “But when we get into theatre, we do both small and big roles. That’s when we understand how each character carries its own weight and value,” he admits. He looks up to Rangayana Raghu, someone he heard about a lot during his theatre days. Talking about Manoj Bajpayee and Irrfan, he says, “They have played all kinds of roles — antagonists, protagonists and they’re also mass heroes. Watching them over time has motivated me to try a variety of roles,” he says. “Sometimes, we go very far looking for inspiration. Dhananjaya is also a very good example of playing varied roles — villain (‘Tagaru’), hero (‘Gurudev Hoysala’) and even poet (‘Allama’). As actors, we draw inspiration from a very close circle or from far away. Having said that, Robert de Niro and Jack Nicholson are my biggest influences.”

Poornachandra Mysore plays the role of an underworld thug in the gangster drama, Headbush, based on notorious rowdy-sheeters of Bangalore's underworld.

“I can’t believe it has been 10 years”

“If someone told me back when I started it would take me 10 years to get here, I would have laughed at them. I saw a post recently that said ‘years are shorter, days are longer’. When I look back, these 10 years look small to me,” says the 36-year-old actor who forayed into theatre while studying B Com in Mahajana College, Mysuru. His connection with theatre grew as he started participating in Rangayana’s B V Karanth Yuva Rangotsava. 

After college, Poorna did some serious soul searching — he taught acting, worked in event management companies, and a radio station. He then started making short films along with Sunil Mysuru and Mahadev Prasad (of the ‘Orchestra Mysuru’ fame). That’s when wildlife photographers Krupakar and Senani came to their rescue. They guided them and even helped them with filmmaking equipment. An editor and cinematographer, Joseph, who worked with the duo explained to Poorna the process of acting for the camera.

Poornachandra plays Jamoon Ravi in Duniya Soori's 2018 action-crime drama, Tagaru. He says it was a great experience to work with, and to see a superstar like Shivarajkumar, so closely.

Soon they connected with a Bengaluru-based group. ‘Patinga’, a short film that went viral on YouTube, brought the team instant fame. Poorna won his first award for acting (SIIMA short film awards) for this film. 

“The journey from Mysuru to Bengaluru was not easy. But Dhananjaya helped us. He was our senior in college. He got a bigger house just for us. So we had a home to stay in the city, and then the long industry journey began,” recalls Poorna.