Sundeep Kishan, who has starred The Family Man in Hindi, in Telugu Bhairavakona, and in Tamil Raayan to name a few, talks with Subhash K Jha on life as a multi-lingual actor and more!
You turned a year older on May 7. How did you bring in your birthday?
I brought in my birthday very simply, just with a few friends. I didn’t want to hype it up too much in my head this time around, so I wanted to keep it very simple and peaceful. And I was also shooting till the last second, so I didn’t really have the time to travel outside. So I wanted to keep it a little private, which I did. So I’m kind of glad that I had a peaceful time.
Are you happy with the headway you’ve made in your career?
As an actor, I am, I’m a very ambitious person, so I’m never completely peaceful. So when it comes to my profession, when it comes to the professional front, I am always restless. But now, I am learning to breathe in the moment and enjoy what I have for a minute more these days, because I have been blessed with an extremely adventurous career that I’m extremely grateful for, support and love across various languages, which is a rare blessing. And I don’t take it for granted.
Do you feel blessed for the opportunity to work in so many languages?
I don’t take it lightly. I take it with a lot of respect and try to put my best foot forward every single time I get an offer. As for working in multiple languages, I completely enjoy it because the kind of cinema I choose in different languages is extremely different. The film language, the kind of filmmaking involved is very different. Like in Hindi, there’ll be a Family Man. In Telugu, there’ll be a mix of a Bhairavakona and a Mazaka. In Tamil, there’ll be a Captain Miller and a Raayan. So I constantly keep trying to switch genres. But even I kind of see that culturally, the rooting factor is very different in the language.
Please explain?
Like how a Raayan or a Captain Miller would be written or treated in a culturally-specific way, or a Bhairavakona or a Michael or an A1 Express would be rooted or treated, right? That gives me a lot of joy. And now when I go to Hindi, and I see that it’s a whole different cultural experience, and rooting and filmmaking style by the filmmakers is completely different from it gives me a lot of joy. Eventually, I think language is just language, right? It’s eventually the film language of the filmmaker that really excites me.
Which language do you enjoy working in the most?
That’d be a tricky one to gauge because some films give you personal satisfaction. But on the final result, it might not. Some films give you a mix of all. Some films might, as an actor might not excite you too much. But the result might really be like… oh, there’s a lot of goodwill and acclaim which it’s given me. So it’s a very complicated issue.
Which of your films do you consider to be important?
I would say my debut film Prasthanam, Tiger, Michael, Bhairavakona, Raayan and Managaram. I’ve been lucky enough to play extremely interesting, author-backed parts even in Shor In The City, like way early in my career.
Moving forward?
I still think, moving forward, I’d like to say, I’d want to give my best work moving ahead. My next project at the moment, primarily theatrically, is Jason Sanjay(superstar Vijay’s son)’s directorial debut. We’re all very excited about it. He’s an extremely hardworking boy and very clear as a director. And there’s a lot of joy and pleasure in making this film and putting it out there. But based on the way things are going, I think we all are going to hit the bullseye. Even as a genre, it’s a very new age commercial entertainer. So I kind of like it that we are making it for a wider audience, but with a very new age sensibility. Sanjay is also a Gen Z director. So it’s very interesting to see his vision come to life. That apart, I do have Family Man Season 3. I also have Netflix’s South India’s first show web series called Super Subu. So kind of exciting year ahead, hopefully in extremely varied genres. I hope the audience supports me and gives me their love. And I hope you do as well.
