‘I wanted to do a native subject’

Nikhil Kumar’s Seetharama Kalyana is now on the floors and the makers have decided to reveal the first poster of the film on his birthday, today. The actor, who came to the fore with Jaguar, took his time to start his next. “I took some time off between my first and second films due to personal reasons, and then Muniratna Kurukshetra came up, unexpectedly. Abhimanyu’s character convinced me so much, when producer Muniratna approached me for the film. The project is so big and had a lot of big actors working together on it. Moreover, I got to be part of a mythological film so early in my career, and that made me sign the project,” he says.

Ultimately, Nikhil feels satisfaction with one's work is important, and he says he has that while working on Seetharama Kalyana. “I am loving working with director A Harsha.” says the actor.

Nikhil was in discussion with the director, for some time, and waited for Harsha to complete Anjaniputra to started with his project “Telugu writers were already on the job, and Harsha had his own thought process for the film. Later, we all came together and are on the sets now,” says Nikhil, who loves Harsha’s style of filmmaking and calls the director a 'team player'.

“I have known Harsha only through his films. And over the past two days of spending time with him, I also feel that he is fantastic on the sets,” he says.

Seetharama Kalyana is made under the home banner of Channabika Productions and it comes with a huge cast. “I wanted to do a project with a native Karnataka subject. The music by Ravi Basrur will also reflect this. He is working towards giving us the best background score. Most of the cast are all from here, except for Sharath Kumar. But even he can speak Kannada,” he says.

According to Nikhil, a film’s commercial success depends on it having the right of elements. “The screenplay is very strong, and has a strong presence of the hero and heroine throughout the film,” he says.

With elections around the corner, Nikhil also has his political campaigns to look after. The actor will be juggling between film and politics. “I will not be going for campaigning at a stretch, just two to three days at a time between shooting,” he says.

Nikhil celebrates his birthday at his farm house in a unique way

While 20,000 people are gathering on his birthday, the actor has personally invited all those who have a tattoo of his father (HD Kumaraswamy), and will be spending time with them. This is an initiative by executive producer and Nikhil’s close friend Sunil Gowda. A lot of them have already confirmed their presence. “It is an occassion I can get to meet these people. A chance for them to share their thoughts, and for me to thank them for their love and care,” he says.