Software engineer Sachin turns hero

Software engineer Sachin Bhandari —born and brought up in Davanagere but working in Chennai —was surprised when director Sanjotha Prashanth gave him a role in her Mirchi Mandakki Kadak Chai. He auditioned for the film in Bengaluru, and as luck would have it, Sanjotha thought that he suited the role and asked him to sign up for a two-month acting workshop in the city.
“Since it is my debut film, I had to learn a lot. I would come to Bengaluru every weekend, for two months, to attend the acting workshop. Though the commute was taxing, it really helped me prepare for my role,” says Sachin. The actor — whose role symbolizes Mandakki (puffed rice) in the film— essays a quiet and calm guy in the film. “The character I play, Manoj, is very similar to my personality. It is that of an emotional and reserved guy. So, I could relate to it and understand how to essay it quite easily,” he says. When asked how it was to be directed by a woman, he says, “It didn’t feel like we were being directed by a woman. Sanjotha is very strict and clear with what she wants from her actors. Her script was thorough and her instructions clear, so that made it easy for us to understand the entire process. And since we had prepared for our characters thoroughly, before we began shooting, she would scream at us if we needed more than two takes, which is understandable.”