As Tiger Galli inches closer to its theatrical release, Sathish Ninasam says that he has been sleeping fewer hours. But, this is routine for him, he says, ever since his first film. “I don’t get sleep till the movie is out,” he says. “To be honest, I sleep better now. Initially, I would lose sleep for a week before the release date. Every actor, whether he or she is big or small, would go through this ‘Friday trauma’. They may not share it, while I admit to it,” he says.

Sathish’s experiments with varied characters and different genres have made him all the more anxious. This time he has worked on a complete entertainer and one wonders why. “It was a well-thought-out move by me,” he says, adding, “The audience will get to see a never-before-seen Sathish in Tiger Galli”.

But why did he step out of his signature style? He is quick to respond: “If you want to survive as an actor, you need to try various formats. The best example for this is Dr Rajkumar, an evergreen actor. Then there is Aamir Khan, also a fine actor. Rajkumar was never typecast because he ensured that he stayed versatile and he is my inspiration. Monotony gets boring for any individual.”

He admits that there is risk, but adds that he is game for it. “I imagine the worst and when something good happens, I rejoice in it,” he says. “If I start counting every success and failure, then I can’t survive as an actor. But that does not mean that, if a formula wins, I stick with it. I always keep looking for something new. If Tiger Galli is appreciated by the audience, I will consider doing an action film every year, but I won't give up on other genres,” he says.

Sathish says that people should watch Tiger Galli before dismissing it as a commercial flick. “The film is not restricted to one genre,” he says, adding, “It is a story of our state and our country. The movie talks about people’s freedom, a corrupt system and all of this is presented by Ravi Srivatsa like a volcano on the big screen.”