Directors like Dasari Narayana Rao and Kodi Ramakrishna appeared in different roles in their movies at the peak of their respective careers. DNR even did full-length lead roles in his out-of-box films. But K. Vishwanath turned into an actor only after he almost retired as a director. In current Telugu Cinema, directors seldom act but they do prefer cameos like SS Rajamouli, Puri Jagannath in their films.
On the other hand, in Tamil Cinema, there have been examples like Visu, Sundar C, who acted in lead roles in their own direction and legends like K. Balachander, only restricted themselves to cameos and did few lengthy roles post retirement. Currently, though directors are turning into actors in Tamil Cinema on a regular basis.
S.J. Suriyah needed to turn into an actor for his Nani remake New, as Ajith dropped out and he found no other actor. He tried hard for ten years to find acceptance as an actor and he is now, the most sought after villain in South Indian Cinema. Following his example, Mysskin, K.S. Ravikumar have turned into supporting actors.
Gautham Vasudev Menon turned to acting due to the financial issues of his long pending Dhruva Natchitram and production delays. Flipping the story though, younger directors are turning into actors, more regularly. Lokesh Kanagaraj is debuting as lead actor in DC,directed by Arun Matheswaran. He did cameos in his own direction and appeared in a villainous cameo in recently released, Kattalan.
News reports suggest that Nelson Dilipkumar might appear in Simbu's Arasan, directed by Vetrimaaran. He appeared as himself in teaser, already. Ashwath Marimuthu might appear in his place, if Nelson drops out. Already, he committed to appear in an extended cameo to Mamitha Baiju's film under Pradeep Ranganathan production.
Now, even Karthik Subbaraj is said to be appearing in an extended cameo in one of his assistant's films. Well, directors before this generation had many different reasons, compulsions to turn into actors. But this generation seems to be following Dasari Narayana Rao example, who took on acting roles at his absolute peak without leaving direction.
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