One man, many chairs: Ravi Gowda scripts, directs and acts in I Am God

After his debut, Ravi Gowda says he struggled to find a script that genuinely excited him. That search eventually pushed him behind the camera, motivating him to craft a story that reflected his own creative voice. “I entered the industry to be an actor, but when the right opportunities didn’t come my way, I knew I had to create them myself. I didn’t want my success or failure to depend on anyone else’s choices. So, I wrote my own script and decided to direct it,” says the actor-turned-filmmaker, who makes his directorial debut with I Am God.

‘Balancing directing and acting helped me stay grounded’
On juggling both acting and directing, Ravi says he found himself constantly negotiating intensity with composure.“The biggest challenge was ensuring the director’s stress never seeped into the actor’s performance. But handling both roles helped me grow — it taught me discipline and how to stay emotionally grounded,” he explains. Of his journey, he says, “I wanted to prove to myself that I could build something meaningful from scratch. This experience showed me that sometimes, you really do have to be your own opportunity.”