Y.Sunita Chowdhary
A Kannadiga from Kundapura, Dixit became an actor by chance. We know him as the guy who fell in love with Kushee in Dia, the Kannada romance which became a stupendous hit last year. The film is being dubbed and will be released in the Telugu States soon. In a chat with Klapboardpost.com, Dixit says he took up acting for financial reasons but later fell in love with his profession. “I never thought I would be an actor. I had financial issues at home, and I was looking for a part time job and a friend in the gym said they would pay 700 Rs per if I work as a junior artiste. I did. I felt uncomfortable but when I made an effort to understand the process, I saw there was scope for being a lead actor. Acting became my passion and I realised that this is where I belong. Otherwise I would have got into the police department. I got into an acting workshop and the teacher saw my commitment and didn’t take the fee. From there I went to a theatre and found myself growing and evolving. From a stage where I was so shy to even strike a conversation with someone, I reached a place where I discovered the joys of acting and began earning that much which was enough for my survival. It wasn’t bad at all and not great either,” says Dixit.
He talks about his stint in acting school and the differences between cinema and theatre. “I basically saw a transformation in myself. Aneka (theatre) taught me commitment and discipline and what it takes to be an actor. Also the basics of acting and how to improve myself. There is a thin line between cinema and theatre. In Theatre, there is a range and in cinema you have to do with what is given. The former needs you to be loud and so are the expressions. It has to reach the last person in the auditorium. In cinema, the camera is right in front of you. Every minute expression is caught. I learnt what Satvika and Sanchari Bhava was and went back to film school and did a few plays. I went there as a student and now I teach there. My teacher pushed me into it and she believes that while teaching you learn a lot. Whatever I am today, it is because of the film industry. It is pay back time and I want to guide newcomers who are coming here. If you have the talent and a strong will, no matter what background you come from, you will make it here.”
The next step was getting into serials. It isn’t easy to get films immediately, one should have a face value, market value to get there. The television industry became another training ground for Dixit and he took up supporting roles for a year and continued giving auditions. One of his shows, Nagini went upto thousand episodes and it became very popular and he participated in a dance reality show. He won that competition and was selected for Dia and also learnt dance and gymnastics. “When I was in Mumbai we would go to a studio to learn dance in the nights and practice the entire night to avoid paying rent. When I began acting, a director asked me what I am capable of delivering and I thought I should be in a position to say, ‘what do you want me to do.’ The shooting went on for a few years and it was a test of my patience.”
Patience is required in this field. The director was very particular about anything and everything and didn’t compromise. He is a perfectionist. Dixit recalls, “There is a scene, where I come out of the lift and ask her ‘Are you Dia’. That one line I dubbed for two hours. After Dia release, Lockdown was announced, it was another testing period for me. The response for the film when it released was too good. It is a newcomers movie, you don’t see a huge crowd on the first two days. “I would go to every show in every theatre, ask people if they liked it and I continued this for a long time. I would run to the theatre around the climax and check with the crowd. When it got released on Amazon, there was a huge response from all over the country, South specially. It is very hard to get films like Dia, especially a passionate technician like Ashok and the production too. The latter never questioned the director, they had immense faith in him and in his content.
I like to learn new things for a film and I am constantly hunting for fresh scripts but here we don’t have many choices. I was doing nothing for a year during lockdown and I survived on my savings. I thought I would take up a serial and pick up any film that came my way. I didn’t want to do any of those two things. I also made arrangements to move my family to my native place but luckily I got Rose Villa. The script was good and the director showed great enthusiasm and interest. That will be out soon and it might be up on OTT. It is a good film and I will be awaiting the response,” he says. 
Dixit likes to learn new things for a film and he is constantly hunting for fresh scripts but here we don’t have many choices. He says as a matter of fact, “I was doing nothing for a year during lockdown and I survived on my savings. I thought I would take up a serial and pick up any film that came my way. I didn’t want to do any of those two things. I also made arrangements to move my family to my native place but luckily I got Rose Villa. The script was good and the director showed great enthusiasm and interest. That will be releasing soon and it might be up on OTT. It is a good film and I will be awaiting the response.”
