SINGULARITY: MEET ACTOR ATUL KULKARNI

It’s films all the way for Atul Kulkarni —be it his infrequent Kannada outings or his first international project, Singularity.

Undoubtedly, he’s on a high. Be it Atul Kulkarni’s first international outing in Roland Joffé’s Singularity, with the likes of Josh Hartnett, Abhay Deol and Bipasha Basu, or being nominated for the Best Actor Award at the 4th Asia Pacific Screen Awards, 2010 for his Marathi film, Natarang.

“The going has been good and I have no complaints. I’m in Australia shooting for 'Singularity' and it promises to be quite an experience,” says the two time National Award-winning actor, adding, “Also, the Asia Pacific Screen Award nomination is quite an honour, considering the other nominations are from world over — China, Russia, Israel and Australia. But eventually, awards are like accessories — they don’t dominate my existence or performances.”

In fact, his performance in his last Kannada film, Yaksssha, was lauded by both critics and the audience. “I was quite impressed with the fact that an underworld goon was being presented in a classy manner when there were chances of it going over-the-top. I also dubbed for the film myself — a fact made simpler because I’m from Belgaum,” he informs. But Yaksssha is special for yet another reason. “This is the first time I acted with Nana Patekar. It’s quite ironic that after working for 10 years in Bollywood, it was a Kannada film that got two Marathi actors working in Hindi films together.”

Atul’s next release, Allah Ke Banday, sees him in a small but pivotal role. “I’ve always taken decisions from my heart and the size of the role never matters. Every film that I accept is like taking a chance — one’s always working on a speculation,” he explains. But does that explain the conscious effort to keep his films very different? “There have been times when the same directors have offered me contrasting roles. And to be able to say no also plays an important part in this strive to be different,” he clarifies, adding, “It’s not easy but there comes a point when the number of films one has said no to also matter.”

In spite of being acknowledged as a versatile actor, Atul insists, “Actors like me still need to compete with stars. In the last few years though, the demarcations have blurred.”

source: DNA after hrs