He set a record of the “Youngest Director of a professionally made feature length film” as a nine-year-old when he directed the movie C/o Foothpath (Care of Footpath). He has even acted as a child in more than 25 movies. Now in his teens, Kishan Shrikanth, who is studying in Carmel Pre University College, Bengaluru, wanted to do something that is relevant for teens. “I could not have done a kid’s film now that I’m in my teens,” he says.
So, here it is, he is acting in the Kannada film Teenage: Ee Vayasse Onthara (This age is somewhat different) that tries to focus on the issues of the teens. He could have directed this film as well but his Class 10 Board exams were more important and hence his father (who has also written the script) took on the onus of directing the movie while he happily played the lead along with Tanvi Lonkar (of Slumdogg Millionaire fame).
Shrikanth HR, Kishan’s father says, “We wanted to make this into a Hindi film. But we also wanted to launch Kishan in the Hindi film industry with a big movie that would have required huge investment. Though, we have spent a good amount on Teenage, we did not have more for a bigger launch, so we planned to go only with the Kannada version for the time being.”
But even before its release, the film has received offers for a Hindi-dub too. Moreover, Kishan has been appreciated and been motivated from the seniors in the industry, both for his acting and his directorial skills. So much so that he is now planning a big-budget 3D directorial venture very soon. A self-confessed tech-freak, Kishan wants a grand debut in Bollywood. In fact, his love for special effects can be seen in Teenage too where Kishan has planned a special under-water sequence. “It will be shot while we dive in the water,” says Kishan.
He has plans to incorporate a lot of such special-effect sequences in his untitled 3D film for which he is reading a lot of books and taking special training. “The 3D film will again be a teenage film revolving around the interests, fantasies and issues of teenagers,” says Kishan, who thinks there are very few movies made on a large scale for the young teens. “Being from that age group I know how much we need them. I’m working on the script and trying to develop it in a manner that it draws the maximum number of youngsters,” he says. But till the camera starts rolling, it’s Teenage that’s keeping him busy.