An adventure junkie inside the forest

Starting off as a fresh-faced youngster in the super hit Boys, Bharath’s 13-year-journey has been a mix of hits and misses at the marquee and what that has given him is a deep clarity and understanding of the business of cinema.

Constant reinvention has not let him stick to a comfort zone but he has strived to physically change his appearance and evolve with the demands of his character.

Bharath is returning to Mollywood after a while through the film Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi, directed by Anil Radhakrishnan Menon, which was shot in the deep forests in Idukki for a grueling 70 days.

LL 7000 K will see Bharath in the role of a Tamil speaking Shanmughan Ilangovan or Sam — a terminally ill patient who knows that his time is up and so is on a mission to enjoy his life to the fullest, finding solace in adventure sports like surfing, trekking, rock climbing and para-gliding which give him a will to live.

While the character required him to do these adventure sports, what Bharath took away from his role was one of the most unforgettable experiences of his life.  

Bharath says, “I have never played an adventure junkie before. This film was very challenging because it involved a lot of physical strain — there is a lot of trekking, mountain and rock climbing among others that puts great stress on you. But the entire team was very encouraging, creative and supportive which took the edge away from the physical hardships.”

Talking about some of the challenges, Bharath reveals, “When you are shooting in a forest, things are not in your control; nature rules and we are mere visitors to the abode of animals. Every day was a different experience for us. We had to shoot in the top hills of Idukki which are elephant corridors and elephants used to cross our paths and we encountered a number of wild elephants during the shoot. The leeches were the biggest problem and all the cast and crew got bitten by them in spite of the entire area being salted and almost all of us had bloodstains on our clothes. Though it was the rainy season, even nature seemed to cooperate as it did not rain for a single day.”   

The entire cast and crew would assemble by seven in the morning at a particular spot after which a jeep would take them deep into the forests. Bharath explains, “The jeep would drive us two kilometres inside the forest and then we had to get out and walk for another two kilometres to the middle of the forest with no connection to the outside world. We would wrap up by five in the evening since it would get dark by that time and it was risky to stay beyond that. But there were some night shoots wherein only the area of the shoot would be lit up and the rest of the area would be eerily silent and dark with giant insects flying into our faces. After the night shoots were canned, we would all return as a convoy because of the risk of elephants and other wild animals. I have been to different forests but this was a novel experience for me.” He adds, “When a film gets over, you don’t have too many memories to cherish but this film has given me a lifetime of memories.”

The notion of success to Bharath is ‘something temporary’! He says, “Being in such a competitive industry, you need to have success every day to be respected. I go by the simple formula of not letting success go to my head and believe in doing my work and being humble to everybody.” Bharath very candidly says, “I have seen life’s crests and troughs and that is the risk of being in a gambling industry that does not pay you every month like a regular job does. Success and failure are the same to me.”