Failure Makes A Person Alert: Srinagar Kitty

Srinagar Kitty is gearing up for his much awaited revenge drama Gowli. He was last seen as a leading actor in Silicon City (2017), which was released six years ago. But the actor believes that not much has changed in the industry over the years.

“The audience’s mindset has not changed but the way we tell stories has changed,” he remarks. “Back then, the maximum height with which we could film a shot was 40 feet. Even if we put a jimmy jib or a crane, there was a limit. Now, we can show the entire world with a drone. The details we capture now are more and the effort behind those visuals is also more. For example, if the director wants a shot of a machete being dragged along the floor, a lot of people have to work together to make that shot look good and reach the viewer. Those are the changes I see and we have to accept these. ”

But he does not see many systemic changes in the industry. When talking about the pan-Indian phenomenon, he believes that the industry has still not crossed some of the hurdles it has always faced. 

“We looked at other industries and only saw what they were showing and not the networking and communal unity that they built during all these years,” he opines. “Here, the people only think of their own success and work towards it. A big player enters and invests huge capital for a single film and makes a lot of noise and gets huge returns. All the other producers and investors take a back seat because they cannot compete with such a huge project. But the big player only produces once in a few years. Who will feed the industry during that gap? For an industry to grow, everyone should grow. From a light boy to a theatre usher to a producer, everyone should make sure that they get what they deserve.”

Kitty started his career as a child artist in TV serials and then made his debut in films with Chandra Chakori (2003), as a villain. After a few negative roles, he found success as a lead actor in director Suri’s Inthi Ninna Preethiya (2008), where he played an artist consumed by alcoholism after a breakup. Since then, he has appeared in a number of films such as Savaari, Sanju Weds Geetha, Hudugaru and Bahuparak. Being a lead actor for over fifteen years, he still believes there is a lot of responsibility on a leading man. He adds that he still feels a sense of fear on the day of a release.

He says, “I wear these rings because people say that it will help in balancing the body and I do not want to hurt them. Even successful people like Amitabh Bachchan and Ekta Kapoor wear a lot of rings. It is a belief and when one faces failure a few times, we tend to gravitate towards it (such beliefs). Failure makes you alert. When someone says that doing something like this will lead to success, we stop putting pressure on ourselves and attach some aspects of success and failure to these beliefs. That gives us time to focus on our craft and other skills.”