All his life, he had wanted to be an actor and it was no less than a dream come true for 25-year-old Amitash Pradhan when he was offered the lead role in Duane Adler’s Heartbeats. Known for his negative role in Velaiyilla Pattadhari starring Dhanush, Pradhan will be seen essaying the role of Asim Kapoor in his next. “I don’t think it has hit me even today. I have played a role which many Indian boys would love to play. And that was an enormous responsibility but it was also a privilege more than anything. All my life, I had wanted to be an actor and I have done everything to be one,” he shared.
Pradhan recalls that it all started in December last year. “I got a call from a casting agent in Mumbai who asked if I could dance. I said, ‘I would like to think so’. He then asked me to send him a dance and acting recorded video. The style he asked me to send was hip-hop. I wasn’t familiar with the dance form as such, so I went to a local dance instructor in Chennai and rehearsed for two days. I shot it and send it to him and then got a message from them saying that they loved my work, and that the director would like to meet me. Then, I had dance auditions, acting auditions and a chemistry test with the leading lady of the film in Mumbai. I auditioned with both the American as well as Indian choreographers (Shampa Gopikrishna and Tessandra Chavez). And it has been a wonderful journey for me since then,” he shared while praising the crew.
As Pradhan will be seen sharing the screen with a professional dancer, we asked him how difficult was it for him to deal with that. “My character in the movie is not a trained dancer. That is why the makers wanted someone who could dance a little bit. The character requires that rawness — the element of being real. My co-star (Krystal Ellsworth) has been phenomenal to me. She is a professional dancer. When we shot with her crew, they were extraordinary. But when she used to dance, all eyes used to be on her. That is the kind of quality she possesses. She is not only a giving actor but is a very giving dancer as well. She was very patient while I was learning some complicated duets. I really thank her for that,” he signed off.