Kannada actor Aniissh turned director with the 2021 film Ramarjuna, which, he asserts, was not a one-off move. He will return to direction at some point. With the film, he joined a long list of actor-directors in Kannada cinema, which includes the likes of V Ravichandran, (late) Shankar Nag), Upendra, Sudeep, Ramesh Aravind, Rakshit Shetty, Rishab Shetty, Raj B Shetty, Tarun Sudhir, Darling Krishna, among many others.

Why are actors turning directors in Kannada cinema? Aniissh weighs in

In fact, Abhishek Shetty, who has directed Aniissh’s next Aaram Aravind Swamy, began as an actor-filmmaker with Nam Gani BCom Pass. Why is it that the Kannada film industry has so many actors-turned-directors? Speaking to Kannada Pichhar during the promotions of Aaram Aravind Swamy, Aniissh said that the trend is being bolstered by an acute lack of quality filmmakers. “It may sound rude and even offend some people, but there are very few good directors. And because this number is so limited, often, actors decide to do things themselves and take up direction to tell the stories they want to present to audiences in their way. If we had, say, 20-30 bankable filmmakers in the industry, maybe this trend would not have arisen,” reckons Aniissh.

The actor adds that if he was in the hands of better filmmakers, he would have had much better success in his career long ago. “I have proven that I can act, dance and fight a long time ago. I came to be an artiste, and if I had better films, and things would have been a lot different. In fact, these days, I tell assistant directors on my team that they ought to stick around and learn all aspects of filmmaking before venturing out to make their own films. From sound design, to shot division, and more, a filmmaker should be well-versed before making a film,” adds the actor.

In Aaram Aravind Swamy, Aniissh is the title character, who has a set of problems in life, which remain unknown to the outside world. What he does to overcome his issues is the crux of the story. He is paired with Milana Nagaraj and Hrithika in the film that releases on November 22.

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