Around 30 years ago, the Prashanth household gathered at the main hall in their T Nagar bungalow. Prashanth had just written his medical exams and was set to become a doctor, something that his family desperately wanted.
However, there was a catch: film directors were waiting with scripts, in which they wanted to cast Prashanth.
“I still remember that day because it felt like a board meeting. It happened right here,” says the actor, at Prashanth Gold Tower, now a popular landmark in Chennai. Recalling that day in the early Nineties when he was still an adolescent, he says, “We discussed my future and decided that I would do one film. If it became a hit, I would become an actor. If it failed, I would study to become a doctor.”
Actor Prashanth
| Photo Credit:
Thamodharan B
What came in handy were all the co-curricular activities that he was exposed to: Prashanth was already adept at playing the piano, riding a horse, playing table tennis and performing a variety of martial arts.
His first film, Vaigasi Poranthachu releasedin 1990 to much fanfare and even before that hit screens, legendary Malayalam writer-director MT Vasudevan Nair had spotted Prashanth and cast him in Perumthachan. He subsequently did a Hindi and a Telugu film. “No other actor in India would have dreamt of such a start to his career,” beams Prashanth.
Prashanth and Kaveri in ‘Vaikasi Porandhachu’ (1990)
Three decades later, Prashanth, now christened ‘Top Star’ by Tamil cinema fans, is still living his dream. This August 15, his Andhagan — the Tamil remake of Hindi hit Andhadhun —hits screens, and later this year, he will be seen in Vijay’s The Greatest of All Time in a supporting role.
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Andhagan has been long in the making, but Prashanth is upbeat about its appeal. “The movie has elements of dark comedy and surreal cleverness in how each character evolves. It’s like a maze. For the Tamil version, we have made it larger than life and we’re looking forward to audiences watching it in Tamil,” he says about the film that boasts a star-studded cast including Priya Anand, Simran, Karthik and Oorvasi among others.
Prashanth and Priya Anand in ‘Andhagan’
The remake was supposed to be helmed by a couple of other directors before it was taken up by Prashanth’s father, actor-director Thiagarajan, who earlier directed him in films like Shock, Mambattiyan and Ponnar Shankar. “The way he gets work done is admirable. He has just two assistant directors for the entire movie; his entire set is calm and there is no hurry or palpitation.”
Ruling the nineties
In the Nineties, when Tamil cinema fans were establishing the superstardom of Rajinikanth and lapping up the variety that Kamal Haasan offered, Prashanth rose fast in the ranks as a romantic hero: he got to work with directors Mani Ratnam and Shankar in his initial years in the industry. Those experiences, he believes, shaped him up. “They were like ironsmiths, making me into the actor that you see today.”
That includes attempting risky sequences in Thiruda Thiruda without any safety harness, something that was not in vogue during those times. “I remember running throughout, jumping from a motorcycle to a jeep, and then atop a horse and then to a train. There were many near-death experiences I had during that shoot, but because I was young and raring to go, we just went ahead with things.”
Aishwarya Rai and Prashanth in ‘Jeans’
Jeans, another memorable project then, featured Prashanth and Aishwarya Rai in double roles. “Till then, dual action subjects were filmed by rewinding already-shot footage and exposing it again. For Jeans, we let the film run, without rewinding. We merged that in the computer. Jeans pushed computer graphics to another level. It was an epic attempt, for which Shankar deserves the credit.”
Entertainment is key
The last decade might not have yielded great results, but Prashanth is set for some course correction. Apart from Andhagan, he also has an important role in Vijay’s much-awaited The Greatest of All Time (GOAT), directed by Venkat Prabhu. Prashanth has already made heads turn with his dance moves along with Vijay and Prabhu Deva in the film’s ‘Whistle Podu’ song.
In fact, Vijay, with whom he shares a warm camaraderie, released the promo song for Andhagan that featured Prashanth and Simran. “Vijay is like a brother to me. He is a truly wonderful person and a gentleman. All it took was one phone call to him and he immediately agreed to launch it. I’m looking forward to GOAT. I’m looking forward to doing more interesting films. This is one profession where we simply have one goal: entertain audiences. Anything we do is a step towards that.”
He is not perturbed about the growth of some of his contemporaries who did not enjoy the dream start he did, but have still managed to churn out box-office blockbuster material in recent times. “See, in a year, we have more than 100 films releasing in theatres. As an actor, if I act in four films, there are still 96 other films for audiences to enjoy. There is always space and scope for other people. Everyone has a place and time, and a journey to undertake.”