Mysuru: If Tamil superstar, Rajnikanth was a bus driver before his rise to fame, a Kannada film actor has turned an Uber cab driver, while still doing movies.
Sixty-two-year-old Shankar Ashwath, son of noted actor, Dr K S Ashwath has been driving an Uber cab in Mysuru for the last two years and makes no attempt to hide his “other job”. In fact, he proudly posted on his Facebook page Wednesday, “My father would have been proud of my job. I halted my Uber cab to pay obeisance to his photograph hung on the compound wall of a street of Mysuru.”
When Deccan Chronicle caught up with him, he explained, “I drive a cab more as a hobby, for the love and passion of it, to make the best of my free time, more than as a source of livelihood.”
Although his father was a popular icon of the silver screen for 55 years and a household name for his supporting roles in 371 movies in the Kannada film industry and he himself is a popular actor having performed in over 250 movies, Mr Shankar Ashwath's family is anything but filmy.
While he pursued his career in films, his wife, Sudha Shankar Ashwath ran a catering service, “Annapoorna caterers” much like the “Dabbawala” service of Mumbai. She currently has two assistants to help her with the business she has been running for over 20 years, delivering tiffin boxes to at least 40 customers, who are either retired, busy or living alone.
His son, Skanda R Ashwath too has a career far away from movieland. Being a national gold medalist in swimming, he is currently a swimming coach at the University of Mysuru .
Having made a decent living in the film industry, the actor/driver modestly reveals he gave up his father's property to his brother and built a house of his own on a 43t x 46 site in Saraswathipuram, Mysuru. Being an actor doesn't seem to have come in the way of pursuing his hobby as a cab driver as he continues to juggle both professions skillfully.
