About 30 years ago, the Prashanth family gathered in the main hall of their bungalow in T Nagar. Prashanth had just given his medical exams and was about to become a doctor, which is what his family wanted.
However, there was a problem: film directors were waiting with scripts in which they wanted to cast Prashant.
“I still remember that day because it felt like a board meeting. It happened right here,” says the actor at Chennai’s famous landmark Prashanth Gold Tower. Recalling that day in the early Nineties when he was a teenager, he says, “We discussed my future and decided I would do a film. If it was a hit, I would become an actor. If it failed, I would study to become a doctor.”
Actor Prashanth | Photo Credit: Thamodharan B
What also helped him were all the co-curricular activities he was exposed to: Prashant was already adept at playing the piano, horse riding, playing table tennis, and performing various forms of martial arts.
His first film, Vagasi Poranthachu IssuedIn 1990 amid much fanfare and even before he hit the screens, noted Malayalam writer-director MT Vasudevan Nair spotted Prashanth and cast him in Perumthachan. After this he worked in one Hindi and one Telugu film. Prashant says, “No other actor in India would have even dreamed of starting his career like this.”
Prashanth and Kaveri in ‘Vaikasi Porandhachu’ (1990)
Three decades later, Prashanth, now dubbed the ‘Top Star’ by Tamil cinema fans, is still living his dream. This August 15, his blind man — Tamil remake of Hindi hit blindfolded ,hits the screens, and later this year, he will be seen in Vijay’s film In a supporting role in The Greatest of All Time.
Blind faith
blind man The film has taken a long time to make, but Prashanth is excited about its charm. “The film has elements of dark comedy and there is extraordinary cleverness in the development of each character. It is like a labyrinth. For the Tamil version, we have made it larger than life and we are waiting for the audience to watch it in Tamil,” he says about the film that has a star-studded cast including Priya Anand, Simran, Karthik and Oorvasi.
Prashanth and Priya Anand in ‘Andhagan’
The remake was supposed to be directed by some other director but was later taken over by Prashanth’s father, actor-director Thiagarajan, who had previously directed him in films like . Shock, Candlesticks And Ponnar Shankar“The way he works is commendable. He has only two assistant directors for the entire film; his entire set remains calm and there is no hurry or panic.”
Ruling on the nineties
In the 1990s, when Tamil cinema fans were establishing Rajinikanth’s superstardom and enjoying the variety offered by Kamal Haasan, Prashanth rose rapidly as a romantic hero: He got the chance to work with directors Mani Ratnam and Shankar in his early years in the industry. He believes those experiences shaped him. “They were like blacksmiths who made me the actor I am today.”
This includes attempting risky scenes Thiruda Thiruda Without any safety harness, which was not in vogue at that time. “I remember running the whole time, jumping from a motorcycle to a jeep, then onto a horse and then onto a train. I had many near-death experiences during that shoot, but since I was young and eager to go, we kept going.”
Aishwarya Rai and Prashant in ‘Jeans’
JeansAnother memorable project of that time featured Prashant and Aishwarya Rai in a double role. “Until then, dual action subjects were filmed by rewinding and re-exposing previously shot footage. JeansWe let the film run without rewinding. We merged it in the computer. Jeans Took computer graphics to another level. It was a great effort, for which Shankar must be given credit.
Entertainment is important
The past decade may not have yielded good results, but Prashant is ready to make some improvements. Blind, He also has an important role in Vijay’s much-awaited film The Greatest Tim Of AllI (goatIn this film directed by Venkat Prabhu, Prashanth has caught everyone’s attention with his dance in the song ‘Whistle Podu’ along with Vijay and Prabhu Deva.
In fact, Vijay, with whom he shares a good friendship, has released its promo song blind man Which included Prashant and Simran. “Vijay is like a brother to me. He is really a wonderful person and a gentleman. All it took was one phone call and he immediately agreed to launch it. I am looking forward to it goatI am looking forward to doing more interesting films. This is a profession where we have just one goal: to entertain the audience. Whatever we do is a step in that direction.”
He is not bothered by the growth of some of his contemporaries, who did not have the same dream beginnings as him but still managed to create blockbuster box-office content 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 the audience. There is always space and scope for other people. Everyone has a place and time, and a journey.”
