View source for Darshan, actor

==Pavithra Gowda, a profile==
[https://epaper.indiatimes.com/article-share?article=12_06_2024_016_006_cap_TOI  June 12, 2024: ''The Times of India'']


Bengaluru: On her Instagram page, she describes herself as a “fashion designer, model, artist and managing director of a boutique”. But what catapulted her to fame in Sandalwood was her proximity to Darshan, dubbed “Challenging Star” by his fans. 

In fact, not much was known about Pavithra Gowda’s background till she dramatically entered Darshan’s life, a source in the Kannada film industry said. Daughter of a small-time businessman in Bengaluru and without a film industry godfather, Pavithra, 37, tried to enter filmdom in the early part of the last decade. But, like any other wannabe actress, she found no takers.

 She got her portfolio done through a popular film photographer and circulated it. But with offers not coming, she was forced to get married to a person named Sanjay. The couple had a daughter. But they got separated, and the old portfolio, which was doing the rounds, helped her bag a role in the 2013 movie ‘Chatrigalu Saar Chatrigalu’.

 It was around this time that she was noticed by Darshan’s team, who had been scouting for a fresh face to cast opposite him. While she didn’t get to act with him, she did three other lesser-known Kannada movies in 2016. 

“By then, the dynamics in Darshan’s family had changed and his differences with wife Vijayalakshmi had become public. Pavithra provided him mental comfort at that juncture and the two became quite close,” an industry source said. Subsequently, Pavithra spiked her Sandalwood dream and evolved as a fashion designer while focusing on her daughter.

 Though no one in Sandalwood dared to comment about Darshan and Pavithra’s relationship, Vijayalakshmi took potshots at her last year on social media by referring to a photo in which Darshan is seen with Pavithra and her daughter. Pavithra reacted by posting, “Darshan and I have been happy together for the last 10 years.”

 Pavithra has over 131,000 followers on Instagram and 21,000 on Facebook, most of them Darshan’s diehard fans. While some acknowledged her role in Darshan’s life, there is a section that loathes her for entering the actor’s life.