Upendra Limaye of Animal fame all set to make his Kannada debut
Upendra Limaye
is now set to make his Kannada debut. Upendra will soon be seen in a pivotal role in director
Kishore Bhargav
's upcoming film, which features Rishi in the lead.
Kishore, who earlier worked as an associate director with Ram Gopal Varma and made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Stalker, reveals that casting Upendra was a decision born out of admiration. 'His performance in Animal blew me away. While writing this character, I couldn't think of anyone else,' shares the filmmaker.
In the Kannada film, Upendra plays the role of Vasant Rao, who is 'wacky, aggressive, and funny'. Notably, the role comes with an unusual twist: the character suffers from misophonia, a condition where specific sounds trigger intense emotional or behavioural reactions. 'Vasant Rao is unpredictable. His aggression stems from his sensitivity to sound, but that's also where a lot of the film's humour lies,' says Kishore.
A connection with Karnataka
'My mother is from Belagavi, so Kannada feels like my mother tongue—it's a language of love,' says the veteran actor, who is widely celebrated for his work in Marathi cinema.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
34 minutes ago
- Mint
AR Rahman meets Sam Altman, discusses AI project ‘Secret Mountain': 'Empower, uplift Indian minds...'
Music composer AR Rahman recently met OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to discuss AI project 'Secret Mountain.' In a post on X stated, the two-time Oscar-winning music legend stated, 'It was a pleasure meet @sama at his office …we discussed 'Secret Mountain', our virtual global band, and to empower and uplift Indian minds to use AI tools to address generational challenges and lead the way forward.'
The Hindu
34 minutes ago
- The Hindu
9th edition of Bengaluru Poetry Festival to be held in the city
Subodh Sankar still remembers the first time he heard the Odia poet Bishnu Mohapatra read his work at Atta Galatta, a decade or so ago. 'He read in Odia, and it gave me goosebumps…without understanding a word of what he read,' says the co-founder of Atta Galatta. 'That is the power of poetry,' believes Subodh, who, with a core team of poets and poetry lovers, conceptualised the Bengaluru Poetry Festival as a celebration of all things poetry, back in 2016. Bishnu, 'a very, very senior poet,' will be one of the many speakers who will be part of the 9th Edition of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival, which will be held in the city on August 2 and 3. Some of the others include Ramya Nambessan, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Sandhya Mridul, Justh, Jeet Thayil, Madhan Karky, Danish Husain and Bilal Moin. 'There are plenty of big names that we are looking forward to at the festival,' says Subodh, adding that the festival ends with a performance by Parvathy Baul. Also, as always, the festival will showcase poets in multiple languages, including Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Urdu, Bangla, and Mizo. 'We are very proud of the fact that we have been able to bring poetry in so many different languages to the city.' This year, for the first time, the festival will be held at the Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha, 'a standard performance venue with a beautiful outdoor area', instead of a hotel. 'In that sense, the festival has significantly reduced its footprint and gone back to nature, something we are proud of,' says Subodh. Another major change in this edition, he adds, is the inclusion of many more poets from outside the country.' These include Sri Lankan poet Shirani Rajapakse, American writer and poet Claudia Keelan, Singaporean poet and translator Daryl Lim Wie Jie and Emirati poets Ali AlMaazmi and Amal Al Sahlawi, 'both of whom will be reading in Arabic.' The festival is instituting a fellowship for young, unpublished poets aged 18-24, to be announced on August 3, titled the Utkarsh Poetry Fellowship, in association with Dr Neena Verma, a medical doctor from Delhi. The fellowship, another first for the festival, is named after Neena's son, a poet himself who passed away at a young age, got kick-started about a month and a half ago, when an announcement for the fellowship was made, explains Subodh. 'We've had an overwhelming response, with a couple of hundred people responding, and now it is going through the jury process.' This edition will feature approximately 86 speakers, including the facilitators of the children's festival, which will take place in parallel with the main festival, a crucial aspect of the programming. 'For the last four years, we have had a children's festival happening alongside the poetry festival,' says Subodh, who believes that it is a great way to introduce children to the world of books. 'Children who read, turn into adults who read and adults who read turn into writers,' he says. 'So we take any opportunity we can to bring children to a literary atmosphere.' The 9th edition of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival will be held on August 2 and 3 at the Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha. Entry is free and all are welcome.
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
AR Rahman joins forces with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for his AI project Secret Mountain, a musical metaverse
Two-time Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman recently shared a photo with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, teasing their collaboration for the singer's AI-powered project. Rahman met Altman at his office, where the two discussed and explored ways to empower Indian creators while also tackling the generational challenges using artificial intelligence. In his post shared Friday on Instagram, Rahman tagged Altman and revealed they were brainstorming on 'Secret Mountain,' his upcoming virtual global band project that aims to fuse sound and code into something game-changing. 'It was a pleasure meet @sama at his office …we discussed 'Secret Mountain', our virtual global band, and to empower and uplift Indian minds to use AI tools to address generational challenges and lead the way forward,' Rahman wrote on social media alongside the picture of two smiling for the camera. A post shared by ARR (@arrahman) What is AR Rahman's Secret Mountain project? Back on February 14, 2024, AR Rahman posted a nearly five-minute video on YouTube, titled 'Introducing the Secret Mountain.' Fans were confused with the sudden update, but it turned out to be a tease for what Rahman was planning. The video started with, 'Hey I'm Luna, let me tell you a story. Like most of us, I have been wandering the jungle instead of gratification, dooms of scrolling.' The video teased the introduction of innovation through enhanced storytelling set in a mystical metaverse world. It tells the story of Luna, a young woman who is transported to the world of Secret Mountain, where she meets different musical characters from various cultural backgrounds, each with a different style. Also read: AR Rahman jokes about Andy Byron's Coldplay video but promises 'not to get anyone in trouble'; Kartik Aaryan caught cheating. Watch Rahman often relies on wisdom rather than leaning on 'muscle memory,' and is known for making music without direct reference to film scenes. This is where he gets his inspiration from to come up with his new project. 'I consciously avoid repetition,' Rahman explained on his website. 'AI can be a starting point,' he noted, adding, 'but the human element, the emotional depth and creativity, remains irreplaceable.' Through this project, he will bring singers and mentors from around the world onto one platform, including Ireland, China, Africa, and India, to show how music can surpass geographical boundaries. The project is called 'Meta Band' and aims to provide an immersive experience. Also read: AR Rahman shares excitement about collaborating with Hans Zimmer for Ramayana: 'Who would have thought…' Rahman is collaborating with the Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer on the music for the upcoming two-part Ramayana adaptation, directed by Nitesh Tiwari and starring Ranbir Kapoor. Rahman won his Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle.
