Telugu film ‘Kick’ revives Shaam’s career

BANGALORE - His lover boy image in Tamil and Kannada films did not take him anywhere. But model-turned-multilingual actor Shaam has hit the bull’s eye with his first Telugu film “Kick”, in which he plays a negative role, and says the film’s success has inspired him to experiment with different kind of roles.

“The character had to be portrayed that way in the film. I am extremely happy that the film is doing very well and breaking box office records. I’m getting feedbacks from my friends in Bangalore too,” Shaam, who has now worked in all South Indian languages, told IANS.

Director Surendra Reddy’s “Kick” stars Ravi Teja and Ileana in leads. But critics and movie buffs are raving about Shaam’s new avatar in the film that has impressed many Tamil and Telugu filmmakers as well.

Shaam says he is now ready to experiment with some new characters. He will be seen in a different avatar in action thrillers “Anthony Yaar” and “Agam Puram”.

“My performance in ‘Kick’ made an impact not only on the audience, but the filmmakers as well. After watching the film, many directors regret not exploiting this dimension of mine personality in their movies,” he said.

Shaam is also excited about his bilingual film called “Sariya, Tavara” — it will be made in Tamil and Telugu languages simultaneously.

Born as Shamshuddin Ibrahim, Shaam started his career as a model in Bangalore. He ventured into films in 2000 with Tamil movie “Kushi” directed by S.J. Suryah. He played leading star Vijay’s friend in it.

In 2007, his first Kannada “Tananam Tananam”, which was directed by award winning director “Kavitha Lankesh”, was released. In the same year, he signed his first Malayalam film.

He played lead roles in Tamil movies “12 B” and “Lesa Lesa”. Apart from that he was also seen in National Award winning Tamil film “Iyarkai” and Jeeva directed “Ullam Ketkude”.