Avinash Divakar back on screen with Chase

Actor-entrepreneur Avinash Divakar talks about Chase and his life before its release

Avinash Divakar’s last appearance on the big screen may have been six years ago but in his latest release,  Chase, the actor brings the same subtlety and underplay he is known for, to his role as a CCB officer in hot pursuit of criminals.  

Like his previous film  Last Bus (2016),  Chase is also a thriller, a genre that Avinash confesses he is really drawn to. But what sealed the deal for him was the opportunity to play a cop in a film that revolves around the issue of the medical mafia. 

“I don’t like working on commercial films with characters that are overhyped. I prefer content-oriented subjects,” he says.  

It would be wrong to call  Chase Avinash’s comeback because though the film saw a delayed release last week owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was shot in 2017-18. The gamble, however, was working with debutante director, Vilok Shetty.  

“Vilok had seen my previous work in  Last Bus and that’s how he came to me. There were ups and downs as we had our own opinions about how some things should look, because I was also the art director for this film. However, for a newcomer, Vilok is technically sound,” says Avinash.  

To prepare for the role, Avinash met with a few real-life cops to understand how they operate. “They don’t trust people easily,” he says. “There’s always an air of suspicion. But Vilok didn’t want me to portray a tough cop as the character also demanded that I be vulnerable and emotional, so we kept it subtle,” Avinash says.  

Grandson of the legendary Kannada comedian Narasimharaju, Avinash’s journey into acting has traced an uneven graph owing to his many other pursuits. A graduate of Chitrakala Parishat, Avinash is also a visual artist, an art director and designer for ad films, and the CEO of an OTT platform.