Not just a bad man

Multi-talented

Though known mostly as the veteran villain of South Indian cinema, Prakash Raj has long surpassed that on-screen stereotype and proved his talent in other departments of movie-making as well, writes C V Aravind.

One film that has won critical acclaim in the recent past is the Tamil and Telugu bilingual Dhoni, which is a critique of a warped educational system that places undue stress on students and hampers their all-round growth.

The film is the second directorial venture of the numero uno screen villain Prakash Raj, his first being Naanu Nanna Kanasu, a Kannada remake of his own production in Tamil Abhiyum Naanum.

The tall ebony-skinned actor who started out in Kannada cinema playing the antagonist has come a long way, and is today no longer a mere screeching villain scaring the wits out of horrified heroines or getting bashed to a pulp by the heroes in film after film.

Prakash Raj has already made a name for himself as a producer with a marked penchant for wholesome entertainers and has also been able to fulfil his aspirations of wielding the megaphone. Once a small time actor in Kannada films, Prakash Raj came to the notice of star-maker Balachander, thanks to his co-star Geetha who put in a good word for him with the ace director.

A popular TV serial in Tamil, Kaialavu Manasu, followed and then Balachander introduced him to the big screen with Duet. That was just the opening that Prakash Raj needed and in no time he found himself flooded with offers, most of which required him to don the villain’s garb.

With the right blend of voice modulation, catchlines and body language, the actor redefined villainy on screen and came up trumps in several films including Okkadu in Telugu, and its remake Gilli in Tamil, Anthapuram in Telugu, which won him a Special Jury Award, Thiruvilayadal Aarambam, Anniyan, Ponnar Shankar, Mambattiyan in Tamil, Pandipada and Anwar in Malayalam.

He was also made the most number of offers to play characters in films like Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar, for which he won the National Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Telugu hit Bommarillu, its Tamil remake Santosh Subramaniam and M Kumaran s/o Mahalakshmi.

He also played a stern father in Veerappu, reprising a role done by veteran Thilakan in the Malayalam hit Spadigam, starring Mohanlal. He also landed a prize role in the Gautam Menon directed Vettayadu Vilayadu with Kamal Haasan playing the lead. Dookudu and Businessman were two of his Telugu films where he played the villain to perfection — both films set the cash registers ringing merrily.

Projects in production

Prakash Raj soon floated his own production unit ‘Duet Pictures’. Though his first offering in Tamil — Azhagiya Theeye — met with lukewarm response, the film Mozhi that followed proved to be a runaway hit. Prakash Raj, playing one of the major roles in the film, had the Malayalam heartthrob Prithviraj in the lead. He found adequate opportunity to reveal his comic side as well, bringing the house down in the company of the hero and the Telugu screen comedian Brahmanandam.

Mozhi was a simple film that narrated the story of a deaf-mute played by Jyothika, who is drawn to the musician Prithviraj. A lilting music score, excellent performances by the actors in Mozhi captivated audiences of all ages. Unfortunately, Prakash Raj could not replicate its success in his next film Vellithirai, a remake of the Malayalam film Udayananu Dharam.

He also came a cropper with films like Poi, Dhaya and Payanam, but his Kannada film Puttakkana Highway did well and went on to win a National Award for the Best Regional Film. Prakash Raj has bought the rights of the Malayalam super duper hit Salt ‘n Pepper recently and intends to remake it in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

Prakash Raj had the perfect opportunity to silence his detractors, who felt that there was little more to him than his villainish antics, when frontline director Priyadarshan saddled him with the role of a weaver in the Tamil film Kanchivaram. A film that dealt with the trials and tribulations faced by weavers found Prakash Raj in his element as a fiery leader of a tribe fighting for their rights  and then as a grief-stricken father mourning the tragic loss of his daughter.

The performance, a once-in-a-lifetime role, was duly acknowledged with several awards, including the National Award for Best Actor coming his way. His portrayal of the arch villain in the Tamil film Singham opened Bollywood doors for him once again when he was cast by Rohit Shetty in the Hindi Singham. Prakash Raj has since bagged the villain’s role in Salman Khan’s sequel to his megahit Dabangg, tentatively titled Dabangg II. The duo had earlier acted together in the Prabhu Deva-directed Wanted in Hindi.

The actor has no dearth of offers and has several films in line right now. The films in Tamil include Vidiyum Varai Kaathiru, Uma Maheswaran, Sethusamudram, Samaran, Oru Koodai Mutham and Mugamoodi. In Telugu, the multi-starrer Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu and in Malayalam, the Ranjit-directed film Spirit, where he teams up once again with Mohanlal after Iruvar. He also has a couple of Kannada films in his kitty.

Once a stormy petrel in the world of cinema, who was banned twice by the
Telugu film industry for non-adherence to schedules, Prakash Raj has now considerably mellowed and this change in attitude has done much to enhance his status in the industry. Both his directorial ventures, Naanu Nanna Kanasu and Dhoni, have proved that he has a marked flair for direction as well and though he has no formal training in acting or direction, his grasp of the medium and his craftsmanship have marked him out as a man who could play a decisive role in the future of South Indian cinema.

With so many acting offers on his plate, his directorial ambitions have had to take a backseat, but he is determined to do his mite to advance the cause of good cinema in his avatar as a producer. Unlike a few of his contemporaries who make films with astronomical budgets, Prakash Raj is content with small budget films, which lay more emphasis on the story, the script and his cast. This, he is certain, will pay him dividends as it has done in the past. Needless to add, the actor-producer-director who already has several feathers in his cap is certain to win more laurels soon.