Leaving Home With Rs 5 To Working In Films, A Glimpse Into Kannada Actor Shrestha’s Career

Kannada actor Shrestha is synonymous with his works like Salaga and Somu Sound Engineer. The prolific actor has now cemented his place in the hearts of Kannada fans with his choice of scripts and powerful performances. His life story and journey to success were filled with struggles. In an earlier interview, Shrestha shared that he dropped out of school when he was in class 9. He has a background in agriculture and had two passions, cricket and movies. At the age of 17, he was fueled by the determination to make it in the industry as an actor. He had a bag filled with clothes, notebooks and rice ready with him. When he was leaving with the bag, his father stopped him and then picked up the bag to drop Shrestha. The 17-year-old boarded the Bangalore Bus and arrived at Majestic with just Rs 5 in his pocket.

Shrestha hails from a small village in North Karnataka and gradually climbed the ladder of success with his hard work and determination. Dialogue writer of Salaga, Maasthi Upparahalli had been a crucial part of the actor’s life during his struggling days. Shrestha even refers to him as his God.

Shrestha had no connections in the industry, so he took up odd jobs. As per reports, before entering the industry, he worked in a hotel. He has served tea and worked as an office boy at the editor’s office and gradually immersed himself in the cinematic world. He said, “My first breakthrough came because of dialogue writer Maasthi Upparahalli, through whom I got to debut with a minor role in Kaddipudi and got subsequent opportunities, including a memorable stint in Salaga”.

Shrestha has been in Bengaluru for the last 17 to 18 years and is now one of the top actors in the industry. He won the hearts of the audience with his acting chops as Kenda in Duniya Vijay’s movie titled Salaga. It paved the way for more movies for him.

The actor has always believed that hardship has been a part of his journey that pushed him to secure the lead actor on the silver screen. He once shared in an interview that a lot of people discouraged him and laughed at his face when he shared that he wanted to be an actor. He never let the negativity hold him back. He chose optimism to be the driving force.