Naveen Padil fills in for the late Rockline Sudhakar in Pruthvi Ambaar film

The untimely demise of

veteran actor Rockline Sudhakar

on the set of the

upcoming Kannada film Sugarless

came as quite the shocker for the team. At the time of his passing, Sudhakar had a few more sequences left, which they have now shot with Tulu actor

Naveen D Padil

. “The team of the film, including director Shashikant, got in touch with me a few days after that unfortunate incident and I immediately made it my priority to help them finish those portions. I shot for a week and have now wrapped up my part,” shares Naveen.

The role, he adds, is a rather hilarious one and has him playing a Mangalurean. “Dattanna and I are friends of the

hero Pruthvi Ambaar

. He plays a 30-year-old, while we, as senior citizens, mentor and guide him through some life lessons. So there are quite a few wisecracks given our take on life at our age. Sugarless was a fun film to work on and to act with an exemplary veteran like Dattanna was a privilege,” says Naveen.
Sugarless has Pruthvi in the role of a youngster dealing with diabetes and pairs him with Priyanka Thimmesh, who made her big screen foray with the recent Bheemasena Nalamaharaja.