Prabhas “Beloved ‘Bahubali’ of the Masses”

Prabhas, the handsome heartthrob of millions now enjoys unparalleled stardom after his ‘Bahubali’ adventures. But things were not so rosy for him when he had started off in his career, even though he happened to be the son of Telugu filmmaker Uppalapati Raju and the nephew of the legendary Telugu actor turned politician Krishnam Raju. This shy and sweet boy had to struggle hard initially to get his first break. He was involved in sixteen other clichéd films based on romantic themes before landing up for the dream role in Bahubali. The rest is history. After being a part of Telugu Cinema for one and a half decades, Prabhas is now busy wrapping up Saaho. Our Cine Buster correspondent had an extensive chat with Prabhas to find out about his life & future endevours.

Tell us how was life before and after the Bahubali phase almost for half a decade?
After getting involved with the “Bahubali” franchise for more than half a decade, my career almost did a volte face. Earlier I did 17 Telugu films with the same clichéd themes.There was nothing to look forward to, as it was the same old routine. I had done one film with SS Rajamouli . All thanks to him that I got rid of this routine cycle of my career. I gave almost 5 years to SS Rajamouli for his epic creation the “Bahubali” franchise and life after that is beyond imagination. I don’t have words to describe my joy. I could not achieve so much even after doing 17 Telugu films that I achieved with just two films with SS Rajamouli. Needless to say I have learnt a lot. I gained a lot of enriching experience too. Another good thing that happened to me after passing through the “Bahubali” phase was that I am the first ever Telugu actor to have his wax figure installed at Madam Tussad’s Musuem.

In the wake of the grand success of the “Bahubali” franchise you have signed only one Telugu film Saaho! What made you go for the movie?
After doing the epic franchise of “Bahubali”, I could have easily signed on the dotted line of every film offered to me. I was also offered half a dozen other films on the lines of Bahubali. But I put my foot down and refused all of them. I cannot afford to waste another half a decade on yet another epic film like Babhubali.

Did you choose Saaho to get an entry to Bollywood?
After Bahubali it was only Saaho’s script that had caught my fancy. As said before I had already refused dozens of offers. In fact Saaho literally lived up to my criterion of selecting a good script. But then there was no other temptation. Shraddha Kapoor was signed on much later before the film went on the floors.

Aren’t you interested to be associated with Bollywood sooner or later?
I am very keen to do Bollywood movies for sure but only if I like the script. It must offer me something concrete to literally sink my teeth into it. The producer and his banner, and the director should be good though frankly I am not really fussy about my co-star. I may even go ahead and act opposite a rank newcomer. Maybe before Bahubali I would not have gone to such length of picking and choosing. Like my other contemporary South Indian actors and even my senior South Indian actors, I too have the desire to make it big in Bollywood. So let’s see which way the wind blows.

You also made a fleeting appearance in a Bollywood movie in actor – director Prabhudheva’s Action Jackson?
That’s it! Action Jackson was just a fleeting appearance. I did it just for my good friend Prabhudheva.

What is Saaho all about?
Saaho is a trilingual film that is being made in Hindi-Tamil-Telugu. It is an out an out commercial film with each and every actor having a well defined role .The story has been narrated from the point of view of Shraddha Kapoor’s character though it is not entirely a female oriented film. But all the characters are very important as they are just not fleeting in and out of the movie. It is being directed by Sujeeth. Surprisingly many other Bollywood actors also feature in Saaho besides Shraddha Kapoor and the main antagonist is Neil Nitin Mukesh. Stars like Jackie Shroff, Chunky Pandey, Mandira Bedi, Evelyn Sharma, Aditya Shrivastav of CID fame, Mahesh Manjrekar, Murli Sharma, Rudranil Ghosh & the late Narendra Jha are there in supporting roles. Saaho has been shot in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Dubai, especially in Burj Khalifa, Abu Dhabi and Romania.

How was Shraddha Kapoor as a co-star?
Shraddha Kapoor is the main highlight of Saaho. She has literally put her heart and soul in her debut Telugu movie. I fully enjoyed working with her and our pair looks very good and fresh on the screen. She was not only fun to work with but our onscreen–chemistry too is something really good to watch out for. She is very professional, extremely dedicated and even I, as an actor, learnt a lot from her. I would really like to work with Shraddha Kapoor in a proper Bollywood movie too.

Do you remember any of the routine Telugu movies that you had ended up doing before Bahubali happened to you?
Those films were not routine. Some of them were really well made but they could have been made even better. Even if they were the run of the mill films, I have no regrets doing them. Some films that I really remember are Varsham, Chatrapathi, Chakram, Billa, Darling, Mr. Perfect and Mirchi for which I had bagged the Nandi award as a “Best Actor”

What is the real reason for the delay in doing a Bollywood movie?
When Bahubali was dubbed in Hindi it was the small screen actor Sharad Kelkar who ended up dubbing for me. So now I am trying my best to learn Hindi with its perfect nuances. And as and when I do a typical Hindi film, I would like to do it’s dubbing all by myself. I still have the hangover of a South Indian accent whenever I try to speak or converse with someone in Hindi.

What would you like to say about the rumors linking you with your Bahubali co-star Anushka Shetty?
First of all, I take all the rumors and the gossip in my stride as being a part and parcel of my profession. I will not deny that we both are very good friends till now. You can also call us family friends but please don’t try to read anything more than necessary. I am even aware of the marriage rumors circulating about us. But I believe in accepting such rumors with a pinch of salt. Period!

What next after Saaho?
My next movie after Saaho will be a small budget movie bordering totally on a love story. The movie will be filmed entirely in Europe. It is all set to go on the floors next month.