<p>The audiences entering cinema halls to watch Akash Srivatsa’s Shivaji Surathkal are likely to be baffled by the stubble on Ramesh Aravind’s face.</p>.<p>Why didn’t he ever sport a beard all these years? In a career spanning three decades and 150 films, the versatile actor has donned diverse roles in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. He sported a moustache and no beard.</p>.<p>In Kannada, Shivaji Surathkal is his 101st film. “There’s an interesting tale behind the beard,” he says. It goes back three decades. “Despite seven releases in the early 1990s, I had no money at all,” he says.</p>.<p>Without realising the importance of money, he had signed many projects. He wasn’t even given money for the lead roles as he would not demand any. </p>.<p>“That was when I hadn’t shaved for two days, which was unusual. My wife Archana asked me the reason for the stubble. I cooked up a story that it was needed for a role,” he recalls.</p>.<p>The truth was that Ramesh didn’t even have two rupees to buy a razor. Suddenly there were no film offers either.</p>.<p>“It was scary. Running a family was difficult. I was unemployed. Those days made me realise the importance of money,” he recalls.</p>.<p>Considering the hard days associated with the beard, he made up his mind not to grow a beard. </p>.<p>“It may also be a coincidence,” he admits, “that I was never offered a role that needed a beard.”</p>.<p>Ramesh has sported a stubble in a couple of scenes in movies including Shaapa (2001) and Aryabhata (1999). In some films, he wears fake beards, but a beard has never been part of his hero persona.</p>.<p>For Shivaji Surathkal, he had to work on two characters and two timelines. “The beard was needed to show a particular character as having grown up physically. We needed to project him as being depressed. The stubble was needed,” he says.</p>.<p>For his son Arjun and daughter Niharika, he looks fabulous with a stubble. Archana, his soul-mate, has accepted him both with and without a beard, he says. </p>
<p>The audiences entering cinema halls to watch Akash Srivatsa’s Shivaji Surathkal are likely to be baffled by the stubble on Ramesh Aravind’s face.</p>.<p>Why didn’t he ever sport a beard all these years? In a career spanning three decades and 150 films, the versatile actor has donned diverse roles in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu and Tamil. He sported a moustache and no beard.</p>.<p>In Kannada, Shivaji Surathkal is his 101st film. “There’s an interesting tale behind the beard,” he says. It goes back three decades. “Despite seven releases in the early 1990s, I had no money at all,” he says.</p>.<p>Without realising the importance of money, he had signed many projects. He wasn’t even given money for the lead roles as he would not demand any. </p>.<p>“That was when I hadn’t shaved for two days, which was unusual. My wife Archana asked me the reason for the stubble. I cooked up a story that it was needed for a role,” he recalls.</p>.<p>The truth was that Ramesh didn’t even have two rupees to buy a razor. Suddenly there were no film offers either.</p>.<p>“It was scary. Running a family was difficult. I was unemployed. Those days made me realise the importance of money,” he recalls.</p>.<p>Considering the hard days associated with the beard, he made up his mind not to grow a beard. </p>.<p>“It may also be a coincidence,” he admits, “that I was never offered a role that needed a beard.”</p>.<p>Ramesh has sported a stubble in a couple of scenes in movies including Shaapa (2001) and Aryabhata (1999). In some films, he wears fake beards, but a beard has never been part of his hero persona.</p>.<p>For Shivaji Surathkal, he had to work on two characters and two timelines. “The beard was needed to show a particular character as having grown up physically. We needed to project him as being depressed. The stubble was needed,” he says.</p>.<p>For his son Arjun and daughter Niharika, he looks fabulous with a stubble. Archana, his soul-mate, has accepted him both with and without a beard, he says. </p>