'I have never seen myself as a hero'

Often seen dabbling with different departments of film-making, Prem always manages to impress the audience with his versatility. After a long time, the actor-director was seen on screen in MS Ramesh’s Dasavala.

Dasavala is supposed to be God’s favourite flower. But the same flower, when tucked behind the ear, has a different and funny meaning. Talking about the film, Prem says, “The story is about the humourous dualities in life and about the serious issues that provoke humour.”

Though Prem often takes up scripts based on village life, he laughs off any mention of being typecast. “It may seem like I work in only village or rural subjects. But I only pay attention to the script. I have ensured that there are no similarities in my acting or my looks. I have accepted a couple of more films after Dasavala, which should
appeal to both the classes and masses,” says Prem.

“I have always tried to live up to the character I have been offered to play and I look forward to being part of realistic cinema. I have never seen myself as a hero, which is why I take up roles that suit me and my character. I love being part of films, where I can be natural. When I was offered Dasavala, I was a bit apprehensive but I took it up for my friend Anaji Nagraj, the producer. He gave me the confidence that the character would suit me and he was right,” he says.

His next film after Dasavala will be ‘My Name is Byregowda’, which will be produced by his wife Rakshita. “This is the second film under our home banner. ‘My Name is Byregowda’ is going to be a big-budget film and will be shot in six cities across the State. The highlight of this film is that I will be working with senior actor Ambareesh for the first time. Other casting details will be announced as and when we finalise them,” Prem says.

Wanting to concentrate on being an actor for the moment, Prem is not picking up any project as a director. “This is one question that I am asked by my fans across Karnataka and I am working on it. I long to work again with Appu (Puneeth Rajkumar), for which I have developed a script. But it’s too soon to talk about it. I will take up direction next year and make an announcement about it at the beginning of 2014,” he signs off.