A student of Anupam Kher’s acting school in Mumbai, young actor Karan Singh Ray has had to toil for years to gain a toehold in tinseltown. The actor has shown immense promise in the few roles he has played on the big screen…
Himanshu Sekhar Guru
“Talent is everything,” says Cuttack-based Oriya actor Karan Singh Ray who has successfully completed a course from Anupam Kher’s acting school in Mumbai. According to Karan, youngsters from across the country flock to the Maximum City – the tinsel town of India – in search of a career in films, but only those who have talent get to taste success.
The audience saw Karan in a lead role in the Oriya TV serial ‘Swabhiman’, but he attained widespread recognition for the feature film ‘Mu Gandhi Nuhen’ in which he acted. Orissa POST talks to the youngster about his journey in filmdom.
Born to Sailendri and Mathura, Karan completed his high school from Badambadi Link Colony High School and later graduated from JKBK College in Cuttack in 2009. Later, he studied MBA at the Janaklal Punjab Institute in Mumbai and passed out in 2011.
As an actor, the youngster started his journey in the Oriya album industry. He has acted in over 75 music albums. “During my stint in the album industry, I worked with video directors like Lubun Tubun and Rabindra Pradhan and tapped my feet to the compositions of music directors like Abhijit Majumdar, Pabitra Kumar and Agniraj Kishore. I have worked in both devotional and modern albums,” says Karan.
“After appearing in many albums, I went for the auditions of the popular Hindi TV soap ‘Ghar ghar ki kahani’. The auditions were held in Kolkata. Although I was not selected, I got the valuable lesson that only a polished talent could grab the opportunity on offer,” he says.
“Subsequently, I moved to Mumbai in 2007 and joined Anupam sir’s acting school in 2010 and received a diploma in acting and presentation after the completion of my course there,” Karan narrates while dwelling on the early days of his acting career.
Was Mumbai the best destination for the aspiring actor? Karan replies: “Boys and girls from across India come to Mumbai seeking a career in the glamour world. However, during my course I discovered that there was no shortcut to success. One needs to have talent to attain success. We were trained in skills as diverse as pulling off stunning action sequences, dancing, horse riding, execution of stunts, make up and many other faculties necessary for an actor.”
To the query as to whether he faced difficulties during his initial days at Kher’s academy, Karan replies: “A majority of Oriya guys has a problem with diction when it comes to delivery of dialogues in Hindi. This was detected early on at the institute and I was given special training to overcome the difficulty, besides continuing with the general course. I am also receiving training from Charlie these days on stunt and dance moves.”
About his professional feats in Mumbai, Karan says: “I got an important role in the feature film ‘World Cupp 2011’. The production house was looking for an actor can speak Hindi with a marked Bengali accent. When I appeared at the audition they mistook me for a Bengali. I enlightened them about my origin but they got the proper accent they wanted and I was selected to play the role. It was a negative character.”
“‘Mu Gandhi Nuhen’ was the film in which I appeared as the hero for the first time. It brought me recognition and it was a successful film as well,” he quips.
“My role in ‘Mu Gandhi Nuhen’ was that of a strict police inspector who is a follower of Gandhi. But, in due course, his moral integrity evaporates as a clutch of baddies murder his family members. It is the policeman who resorts to violence with a view to exacting revenge,” says Karan.
Narrating a memorable moment on the sets, the actor says: “The shooting of an action scene was going on in Jagatpur. It was a bomb blast scene and I was asked to jump. I was tied by ropes to do the scene being operated by the action assistants. The bomb went off ahead of time when I was very close to it. I luckily escaped unharmed.”
Karan enacted the role of Bikram Prasad Ray in the film where Devraj from Hyderabad was the fight master.
Does the actor have fascination for any particular kind of role? “I want to play a loafer with a negative approach to life but who has a good message to deliver,” he replies.
Uttam-Aparajita, Salman-Aishwarya, Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie are Karan’s favourite pairs on the big screen. His aim is to become a successful actor. Dwelling on why he quit the small screen Karan says: “After appearing on the big screen I didn’t want to look back. ‘Tike Anadi Pura Khiladi’ and a bilingual film (to be made in Oriya and Telugu) are my two upcoming ventures scheduled to release in the New Year and on next Valentine’s Day respectively. ‘Tora Mora Prema Kahani’ and ‘Indrajit’ are two other films that are yet to release.”
These days, Karan is busy shooting in Hyderabad with actors Bubbly, Ipsita and Sanjana.
