At Mascot Hotel’s café, Bishwas Chinmaya Nayak is the cynosure of all eyes. The eight-year-old plays the titular role in the serial Balaganapathy on Asianet, which narrates the adventures of 10-year-old Ram, a devotee of Ganesha.
“I am happy to have debuted with this role. I feel good that people like me…,” is all that he has to say about his celebrity status. Harison, the director of the serial, is a family acquaintance and that was how he got the role.
Now Bishwas is busy shuttling between Saudi Arabia and Kerala. He has 10 to 12 days shooting every month, which means he misses a lot of his classes.
“My teachers support and encourage me; most of them watch the serial. When I miss my classes, my friends send me the notes via Whatsapp.” The little star is excited that he is conversing in Malayalam, especially since he wasn’t very fluent when he began his tryst with acting.
“My pronunciation wasn’t very good. I am more comfortable speaking in Hindi or in English. But my father, Chinmaya Nayak, who is from Odisha, said that I should learn Malayalam. In fact, he also speaks Malayalam quite well now,” says Bishwas.
Bishwas looks forward to his visits to Kerala for the shoot.
“Although I don’t enjoy the travelling involved every month, I would love to stay in Kerala, especially at my mother, Sunu’s place in Wayanad, where there is a lot of place to play,” he says.
He also has a jolly good time with the cast and the crew of the serial and enjoys the football sessions he has with a few senior crew members. Is there anything he doesn’t like about the character? “Well, at times I feel uncomfortable wearing the heavy chain…that’s all,” says Bishwas.
Now that the acting bug has bit him, he “plans to become an actor.” A huge Mohanlal fan, he is also into singing and dancing. “I love singing Hindi songs with my father. I like Sonu Nigam, and now Sidharth Menon also.”
