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The 2009 masala film,Prabhudheva-directed ‘Wanted’,was a trendsetter in many ways. It not only brought the masala genre and Salman Khan back in vogue,but also gave the Hindi film industry a new villain to reckon with. Prakash Raj,a popular actor in South India,got his first Bollywood break when Boney Kapoor and Prabhudheva insisted on reprising his role in this Hindi remake of the Tamil hit ‘Pokiri’. I had done ‘Pokiri’ and I knew what the role was. The only difference was the language, says Raj,who was soon christened Bollywoods newest baddie and bagged roles as the antagonist in ‘Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap’ and ‘Singham’. The success of these two films made him popular with the masses and filmmakers,and in a period of three months he has bagged four offers Dabangg 2,Satte Pe Satta remake,Traffic and Neeraj Pathaks next with Sunny Deol. There is also Ghayal Returns,which he is yet to sign. Ask him about his rise as the Bollywood villain and he modestly responds,It is nice to be wanted,trusted and loved. It increases your self-belief and self-esteem.
New to Bollywood,Raj started his career back in the early 90s,playing character-driven roles in Kannada television serials. He later took up supporting roles in Kannada films such as Raamachari,Nishkarsha and Lockup Death. The big break came in 1994,with K Balachander-directed Duet. I wasnt keen on playing lead roles. My criteria was to select a role which let me put my acting abilities to test, says the actor who won the National Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1997 biopic Iruvar,directed by Mani Ratnam. The success streak continued with Tamil,Telugu and Kannada movies,such as Khadgam,Anathpuram,Sivakasi,Ghilli,Naanu Nanna Kanasu and Kanchivaram. These were instrumental in winning him five National Awards and more than 30 state awards.
A familiar face in Bollywood now,the veteran actor wishes to do more intense roles. I want to do comic and character-driven roles. But right now,since formula films are working,I am getting a lot of negative roles, says Raj,who looks up to Amrish Puri and Amjad Khan as the greatest villains. The South Indian actor feels that language is not a hiccup for him in Bollywood. Cinema has no language. It speaks a universal tongue. All I need to have is the passion to act and a basic understanding of the role I am portraying, says he.
One might expect him to shift base to Mumbai but the actor prefers to be a nomad. I function from my three offices,in Bengaluru,Chennai and Hyderabad,and my home in Mumbai. It keeps me active and happy, says he. Busy shooting his bilingual directorial venture and scouting locations for his next film,the actor will return to Mumbai in December to start work on Pathaks film,followed by Traffic.
‘Satte Pe Satta’ remake and ‘Dabangg 2’ will take off in February and March,respectively,and there are three more Telugu films lined-up. Meanwhile,the actor is also building a home in Puducherry. There is no dearth of time in this world,so I like to pack in as many things as possible in my lifetime, he smiles.
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