Shashi Kumar's son Akshith is ready for his debut

His father, Shashi Kumar, was the poster boy of Kannada cinema in the 90s. “But when I told my parents that I, too would like to become an actor, my mother responded with an outright ‘No’, and my father was taken aback. It was probably because they have still not come to terms with the horrific accident that my father met with at the peak of his career. It’s taken them time to accept my choice, but I’m glad it all worked out in the end. Now they’re looking forward to seeing me on the big screen,” says

Akshith

Shashi Kumar.
Sharing the first look of his debut

Seethayana

with us, Akshith tells us how excited he was to go on the set of his film. “It may seem strange, yet in all these years, I have never before been on a film set. My mother was extremely protective of me and I understand why she did that. It was only during the shoot of Munirathna Kurukshetra that I finally got to go on a set and see my father in action. That’s the day I decided I wanted to pursue acting, too,” Akshith tells us. Seethayana is the result of his big dream and taking acting lessons alongside doing engineering, so he couldn’t be more thrilled. “The film didn’t come to me because I’m a star kid. The days of nepotism are long gone. I went through an audition for this film and I got the role because of my capability. It’s the audience who will decide what my journey in the industry will be like,” says the debutant. The movie, a romantic thriller, is directed by debutant Prabhakar Aaripaka and stars

Anahitha Bhooshan

as the leading lady.