Most star kids are burdened by fan expectations: Akshith Shashikumar

The latest star kid on the block, youngster Akshith Shashikumar, the son of veteran actor Shashikumar, is readying for his debut with the film Seethayana. The film has been made as a Kannada and Telugu bilingual and will also see a dubbed release in Tamil mostly. Akshith is, no doubt, gung ho about the subject, so we caught up with him in a video chat. During our conversation, the young actor spoke aabout how involved his father,90s heartthrob Shashikumar, was in his career."Oh, my father told me to go and learn from my own experiences. His point of view was that it would be no good if I am going to be spoon fed everything," says Akshith.
The timing of his launch announcement, though, has come at a time when the nepotism debate is at an all-time high. What's his take on the subjects and the pressures star kids face? He says, "When people say that star kids or kids from the industry have it easy, it isn't necessarily true. No doubt, we get an initial push to get us started, but, if you don't have the talent in you, how long can people carry you and push you ahead. I do worry that throughout my life I will need to match the expectations of the bar set by my father. And this holds good not only for me, but any actor's child, as people will expect certain things out of them. That doesn't give the star kid much leeway to highlight his/her own personality. For example, my dad was a very good dancer, but I am more at ease with action as I hold a black belt in karate. There are a lot of expectations, so, honestly, heading out into the world of cinema is scary at times."