Jaguar brings Vinayak Joshi back to Kannada cinema

For someone who has been in the Kannada film industry for over a decade, it was surprising that Vinayak Joshi went missing in action for nearly three years. The break, he says, was partly due to an injury he sustained around the time he was shooting for Shivam. Once he recovered, Vinayak briefly worked with a few MNCs, until he got the call to star in the Kannada-Telugu bilingual, Jaguar.
'One of the associate directors on Jaguar had worked with me on Shivam and asked me to meet the team. The role was good, but they wanted a 45-day call sheet, which I was not prepared to give, as I still had a job and could not take that many days off. Telugu actor Aadarsh Balakrishna was cast instead for the role. Sometime later, though, I was called again with an offer for another character and I took it up, as I was set to resign from the job I had. After refusing a role that required 45 days, I took on another that I worked on for as many days,' says Vinayak.
While the role is that of a handsome 'dud' who is angling for the heroine, the actor is excited, as the film will mark his debut in Tollywood. 'I have a separate track in the film and am confident that the character will be noticed in the first half. On my first day on the set of Jaguar, I had a scene with Nikhil (Kumar), which also featured several extras. We were shooting the Telugu version first and Nikhil had to deliver a rather lengthy line. I was astounded, and rather impressed, when he came in and got it right in a jiffy. That is the level of preparation that he comes with on the set,' he says. A lot of this, says Vinayak, also comes from the fact that the director (Mahadev) is completely involved in every character and scene. 'He enacts everything and explains a scene in-depth. That's half the job done already and makes it easier for artistes to bring that to the screen,' he adds.
And now that word has spread that Vinayak is back in business, offers have been coming his way. 'I recently did a friendly appearance in the John Jani Janardhan. It is a hilarious track. I have also been working on a cameo in Life of Raju. There are offers for negative roles as well. Things are definitely looking up and that's good,' he signs off.