I had no reference point for my character in Mojo

I’ve been watching movies all my life and that has been my academy; I learnt acting by watching Rajkumar, Vishnuvardhan and other actors. Since I was a child, I have wanted to be like them,” says Manu UB, who makes his debut as a solo lead hero in Sreesha Belakvaadi’s

Mojo

.

A software engineer, Manu moved to Bengaluru from

Hassan

in 2010; he worked in a private company here for a while. When he heard about auditions for the

Kannada

movie Ka, he decided to make his childhood come true and was picked as one of the lead actors. “But I didn’t get much recognition from that film, since it was a multi-starrer. I was on the lookout for a project in which I could star as the solo hero; in the meantime, I dabbled in theatre. Usually, people first act in theatre and then make the switch to films, but for me, it was the other way around. I then heard about the auditions for Mojo, and the rest is history,” says Manu.

Manu plays a photojournalist in the film, who has a sixth sense. The main plot of the murder mystery thriller revolves around how Manu’s character’s special power is linked to the murder. There are instances in the film when his character is unsure if what is happening is real or a figment of his imagination. So, how hard was it to essay such a complex character this early in his career? “If I was playing a don or a king, then I could have watched several movies as a references But I don’t think that there has been any other Kannada movie that has explored the sixth sense angle as much before. So, it was challenging in that sense. But I took it in a positive way, since now, audiences will get to see fresh acting through me,” he says, adding that another challenge was the romantic scenes, which made him nervous. But with the help of his leading lady in the film, Anoosha, he was able to get over the nerves eventually.