Tollywood's promising actor!!

Sharwanand’s Tollywood career started with supporting roles… brother, friend, second lead. But the success of Gamyam shot this 25-year-old into the big league. Despite coming from a non-film background, Sharwanand is now one of the busiest of the new breed; already ten films old, currently working on three films, with Raju-Maharaju slated for release.

Sharwanand credits his slow rise to fame as the reason for his success. “I didn’t have instant fame. I grew slowly and stardom hasn’t gotten to me. I did a variety of roles to come to this stage. I’ve aspired to be an actor ever since I was 17. My duty is to entertain people and I will continue to do so,” he says.

Tollywood’s not all. Ever since Gamyam’s Tamil avatar, Kaadhal Naa Summa Illai, did well at the Box Office, his popularity levels are high in the Tamil industry too. And now, his Telugu films are being dubbed in Tamil as well. Not surprisingly, this is garnering Sharwanand offers from Kollywood too. “I’ll start shooting for my Tamil films after September. Meanwhile, I’ll brush up on my Tamil for the upcoming projects there so I can deliver my dialogues.”

In an industry where a large percentage of the current crop of debutantes is the offspring of actors, directors and music composers, does he think a film background matters? “It’s clear,” he says, “No one can afford a flop. I know a lot of youngsters from a filmy background who want to do my kind of movies, but they can’t because they are bogged down by their parents’ image. Their parents’ fans expect a lot from them and hence the young actors are under pressure. if we fail at the box office, we may get five more offers; if they fail they might bag 10. Ultimately, star son or not, everyone has to put in hard work to prove himself.”

Popular he may be, but Sharwanand’s baby-face has critics suggesting that he looks too young for most of his co-stars. Does he plan to ‘age’ to be in sync with his heroines? “Well, there are a few people who said I looked younger than Kamilini Mukherjee. I exercise, put on weight and try to look older. But ultimately, it’s the director who decides the star cast. So, it’s his responsibility,” he chuckles.