Guess what this Swami has been up to

Here's another Swami who is in the news. No, this one is not a spiritual guru, rather the sweet protagonist of Malgudi Days, the much beloved tele-serial from our pre-Satellite era.

And if you've loved Malgudi Days, you must have wondered at least once what happened to Master Manjunath who played Swami and why such a natural child actor wasn't ever seen again. Well, CS recently spotted Swami, that is Manjunath Nayaker at a recent film event. No, Manjunath is not acting in this one. In fact he was only there to support his boss who's producing a film.

Role reversal
"I quit acting a long way back," laughs Manjunath, who's now happy playing vice president, public relations and liason, for the Bangalore Mysore Infrastructure Project. "I had a lot of fun when I acted. I must have done almost 58 films, although most in Kannada. But I always knew that I had to finish my education and get a proper job, and I did," he tells us.

Looks familiar?
Of course, there is always someone or the other who recognises Manjunath as Swami even during the course of his proper job. "That's fine. I enjoy it. That's why people take up acting, for all that attention and admiration. It's just that I have not yet noticed a role that can make me want to get back to the limelight. Maybe I'll direct a film someday. A super action thriller like Bourne Identity or something," promises the film buff.u00a0