It is known news that the talented and versatile actor Prakash Raj has won the National Award for the best actor and recently he had been to Mumbai and was sharing his thoughts there. This is the first encounter for the Mumbaikars who has just seen him via his villain act in Wanted. Prakash said that the first is always special but one can never really get used to winning a National Award. Apparently, this happens to be his fourth National Award and this time he has got it in the best actor category for Priyadarshan’s Tamil film Kanchivaram.
He had earlier won the Award for best supporting actor in Iruvar. In Kanchivaram Prakash portrayed the role of a silk weaver named Vengadan and the story revolves around the lives of silk weavers in pre-Independence India.
Prakash has been the most sought after villains in the South and surprisingly the role that has fetched him the award is quite different from the roles that have fetched him the huge fan following.
Speaking about the preparation for the role, Prakash said that he goes with an empty and open mind when he takes up a film. At times, he could be a Communist in a certain generation oblivious of the issues in the society at that point of time. In Iruvar Prakash recalled how he had to understand the Dravidian culture to go into the character of the protagonist.
Throughout his career as the mainstream villain he has been exposed to a form of acting that stressed on loudness and mannerisms such as pitched decibel levels, protruding eyes etc which were the symbolisms of a villain down south. However, a chance to play certain off-beat roles is said to be relieving him from the routine tasks.
Prakash says that it is a human task to come out of it, and eventually your reflexes become used to it. He also says that such things tend to have an impact on the personal front and recalls the incident wherein his house in Bangalore is about 35 kilometers from the airport and whenever he had to catch a flight in the past, he sped through at over 150 kmph but now he feels driving at a 100 is also fine. In a way, even life acquires a balance he states. “The comfort of the so-called intense actor falls by the wayside very easily eventually. And surely, the transition was seen easily as Prakash came up with a rather subdued performance in ‘Kanchivaram’.
Meanwhile, the folks of Mumbai had their exposure to Prakash Raj’s brand of villainy has been in the film Wanted. He said that his approach to any role is touched with wit and added that it is almost as if he gets his own identity that way. That way, he also claims that it gives him that unique appeal among the audience as was evident in Wanted.
He also maintained that the film worked due to Prabhu Deva’s direction which took the film to a different league. Prakash quips that Prabhu Deva doesn’t direct but he choreographs his films. Soon, the actor will be seen in the mantle of a director for a Kannada film, and this is based on the relationship of a father and a daughter. The film happens to be the remake of the Telugu hit ‘Akasamantha’ and Prakash says that he found himself thinking once that ten years down the line if his daughter, who is 13 now, calls from Miami to say that she is set to marry someone from a completely different location and origin, then would he be able to accept it?
The film is about the fact that daughters grow up but fathers don’t he adds. Prakash says that his daughter is already aware that it is her father’s film and when he speaks to her casually about it, she has valuable inputs to offer. On the personal front, Prakash is used to be known as a confirmed family man, but ever since he has taken a divorce from wife Lalitha Kumari, sister of Disco Shanti, he is being branded as the ladies man. Prakash from his end is said to be quite delighted about it and says that it always works when someone is called a Ladies Man. “And it doesn’t mean I’m a womanizer”, he adds.
For now, this National Award Winner has got his hands and legs spread across various boats and given his mettle and talent, it must be said that he would emerge with some flying colors and make the south Indian film fraternity proud. Hearty congratulations Prakash Raj!!!
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