#WhereAreTheySeries: Kamal Sadanah: I never disconnected from the world of cinema

Kamal Sadanah walked into Bollywood as Kajol’s first hero in 1992 with Bekhudi, following which she went on to attain new heights of fame, while his star lost its sheen. Now, he reveals that he was more enticed with the world behind the camera, which became the reason why he took a step back from his onscreen life.

“For me, the journey has actually been lifelong because I was born in a film environment. That was the only thing I knew. It was quite a journey, right from my birth to getting launched to taking a break for a few years. During those years, I got into adventure sports and travelling all over the world,” shares Kamal, who saw moderate success with Divya Bharati in Rang (1993).

While satiating his wanderlust spirit, he spent his time away in upgrading his skills, and learning new filmmaking craft.

“At that time, I got back into production. I made independent films, directed and edited films. I did a course about visual effects, which I had to use while filming Roar: Tigers of the Sundarbans (2014). That was also amazing. Then I also did a course in animation, following which I started a small studio, which specialised in pre-visualizations. Now, I am getting back into acting. So it’s been a full circle for me,” shares the actor, who also faced personal tragedy before entering the industry when his filmmaker father Brij Sadanah killed himself after shooting his mother and sister.

His last big screen appearance was in Victoria No. 203 (2007, which he also produced. And he says going behind the camera was a very organic step.

“It comes with my background. My father was a filmmaker, my uncles and aunts are filmmakers. Everyone makes films. So, it’s just so natural to do production,” he says, adding that exploring showbiz behind the camera is the first step for every star kid.

The actor shares, “Spending some time behind the camera is really critical, that’s the advice I give my children if they ever seek to become actors”.

Ask him if he missed being a hero, or the spotlight, and he opines, “I don’t think I missed it because I was always connected to cinema in some way. I have always been in and out of the studio, learning animation, pre-visualizations, and visual effects. It has been such an interesting journey of learning. I have never really had the time to sit back and mull ‘Oh, God, those were the days”.

Now, he is trying to restart his acting career, and is busy sieving through projects coming his way. “I have signed some interesting things with respect to films, and also hoping to explore the OTT world. There have been some delays because of the pandemic, but I hope things revive soon,” shares the actor, who will start shooting from film, Pippa, next month.