We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kartic Bhargav a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kartic, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Absolutely. First of all, I think it is really important that we don’t go looking for validation from anyone and everyone around us. If we do, we’re likely going to end up being a football of other people’s opinions.
I believe self-esteem, as the name suggests, originates from within. Be it via the assurance we have in our craft, the pride in our work-ethic, the fulfillment from what we do or even the doses of happiness we get time-to-time from our progress.
And that is only the start of it! Next, as humans we are inherently social, so seeking external validation becomes essential to keep the flame going.
For positive reinforcement, my practice is to be open to feedback from the select few who’s judgment I trust. This includes those whose craft I respect, whose unbiased thoughts I value and who I believe have my best interests at heart.
“You got a dream, you gotta protect it.” – quote from you know where!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Of course! Hello everyone! I am an actor. Also a writer, producer and (wait for it) a full-time software developer. I love stories, tea-time, trickling creeks and the countryside.
I grew up in Chennai, India and moved to the US in 2014 to pursue my graduate studies in Computer Engineering. Work in tech brought me to California seven odd years ago. And the security it brought forth encouraged me to gradually pursue an artistic career in parallel.
I started out as a stage actor doing community theater – performing in a couple of plays each year in the SF Bay Area. Sharp progress in craft encouraged me to venture into on-screen projects as well.
I worked on a few short films before the pandemic shut doors, post which I utilized the downtime to continue my acting training virtually. The virtual medium we were in opened up interesting possibilities – pursuing courses remotely for one.
When things opened up, the homework gradually started to pay off – I had improved as an on-screen actor – and was only too aware of the long road ahead. What follows next are the all too familiar details in the life of an early-career actor – self-tapes, callbacks, rehearsals, working on set, training, networking in mixers, collaborations on passion projects etc!
‘Track Shack’ – a TV Pilot I was in, was screened at the Sundance Film Festival 2023; I played the lovable monster in the music video of ‘Lo Siento BB’ by Tainy, Bad Bunny, and Julieta Venegas that topped the charts in 2021; several of my short-films including ‘Einstein’s Twin’ (2023), ‘The Games We Play’ (2022) have been screened at local and international film-festivals and recent projects including ‘The Serene Place Where the Stars Poop’, ‘Patel Motel’ and ‘The Eulogies’ are currently in post-production.
I also continue my theater journey by acting in plays albeit at a reduced frequency. Some notable performances include Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, Mahasweta Devi’s Water, Basab Pradhan’s Divided By and Girish Karnad’s Boiled Beans on Toast.
Pursuing an artistic career with a full-time job in tech is probably what differentiates my journey the most. And technically speaking, this does not make me a ‘working’ actor and brings forth a yin and yang of sorts. The yin is the financial security: payment of bills, health-insurance, savings etc. aren’t thankfully tied to me booking gigs.
The yang, as I’ll explain later, is related to my immigration status in the United States.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Great question. Couldn’t agree more on the sea of information out there. Being a performing artist, I personally would place a good work-ethic, strong social skills, and resilience to be the qualities that top my list.
Work Ethic : Being reliable, open, responsive, generous and professional with a strive for betterment.
Social skills : Is not just about effectively reading the room or smooth-talking; it is also about getting out of your comfort zone and being resourceful. Developing a good rapport with peers and supporting the work of fellow collaborators.
Resilience: This is perhaps the hardest of the lot since as artists we are inherently trained to be sensitive, yet we have to develop a thick-skin too. However, rather than interpreting it as being indifferent, interpreting it as perceiving things differently can prove to be beneficial. So, it is not about not-caring, it is about the awareness that things are subjective.
For example, viewing an audition as an opportunity to present your craft as opposed to viewing it to be a test of it.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Owing to the stipulations of my visa, I am unable to seek representation, join the union or work on anything but low-budget independent productions.
It is an interesting conundrum. Financially secure but career-wise stunted.
One thing I eventually grew to accept was that in addition to all what I’m doing, I have to be enterprising as well.
This meant being a kickstarter (on my own projects), a reliable collaborator (on known passion projects) and a seasoned team-player (on fresh projects).
This also meant developing a fresh set of skills – writing, dramaturgy, producing, wearing multiple hats on set etc.
Excelling in these to progress in my artistic career is what I am working towards. If you’re a filmmaker reading this and are of a similar mindset as me – looking for a collaborator to co-produce a project you believe in, hit me up and we can talk shop!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/karticbhargav
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karticbhargav/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bhargavkartic
Image Credits
Kyle Adler, Brigham Aldrich, Nathan Blackburn, Ritendra Datta, Ashima Yadava
