He was supposed to be lead male protagonist of Renigunta. But, at no point did it appear that he wanted to impose himself upon the movie as its hero. Of course, all credit is due to the script and the director for maintaining it throughout. But, Johnny too played his part in it very well. Through the length of the movie he held a forlorn, almost expressionless face. Normally, calling an actor expressionless is an insult, but in this case, it seemed to sit perfectly on a character who was suddenly uprooted from a perfectly normal happy life into jail and then into the midst of a group of boys who knew more about crime and killing than about school and education.

Nishanth, the boy who appeared as Pandu in Renigunta delivered one of the most promising debut performances seen over the past few years. He was by no means the male lead of the film; he did not even have a role of great importance. But, it did look as if he was the one who controlled the gang, he was the one they would turn to when there was trouble, he was the one who would save the day. He seldom looked flustered, he never looked overzealous, he struck the right notes and his death in the film created as big an impact as that of the central character.