Actor without borders

Saran Shakthi, the 22-year-old actor who was slowly making his mark in Tamil cinema, was in for a super surprise when he got an unexpected call one day.

Prashanth Neel, the director of KGF, called Saran and offered him a role in KGF 2 and since then, the talented bloke has been floating on cloud nine. “The director was looking to cast someone for the past three months. He considered a lot of Telugu and Kannada actors, but couldn’t find anyone to suit this role. He later saw Vada Chennai and was impressed by my performance and called me five days before the shoot. I was super kicked, considering KGF is a huge hit. To get a call from another industry was an absolute surprise!” says the actor, who’s shot for 80 percent of his portions in KGF in Kolar Gold Fields.

“Everyone on that set was so sweet to me — they made me feel super comfortable. The director took care of me so well — I actually miss working on the set,” exclaims Saran who’s all praise for the film’s leading man Yash. “He’s the sweetest person ever. He took me for a walk, put his hand on my shoulder, motivated me and told me that my character was important. After a few days, when I went to his caravan, he told me that he’d seen half of the movie just for me and that I’d done a good job. I told him I had no film background before entering the industry and he told me that even he had a similar story. In fact, he spoke to me in Tamil and I was surprised that he was so fluent in the language,” smiles Saran.

The actor is now kicked about shooting with Sanjay Dutt, who plays Adheera in the sequel. “I’m waiting for it to happen… I haven’t met him yet. I’m keeping my fingers crossed. The scene is an important one and I need to prepare well for it. I can’t talk much about the role now,” admits Saran, who is also working on Netrikan with Nayantara.

For someone with no Godfather in the film industry, Saran had to do the usual photoshoots, going to different offices, showing his pictures, etc in order to get a good break in the industry. “My first film was Kadal with Mani Ratnam. My dream was to work with Vetrimaaran and Dhanush and it happened with Vada Chennai.

Everyone around me is excited that I’ve signed KGF. My dad and I have always been into cinema, my mom, not so much, but now, she has no other choice!” quips the actor, who feels lucky to be getting the attention he does on social media. “I get random, unexpected messages from people across the world. I feel fortunate to be in this position,” he exults.