It appears to be a melodic beginning for Vidhu Prathap. The young city-based playback singer, veteran of a 100-plus songs, who is known for his groovy numbers and his equally groovy moves while performing those songs on stage, makes his debut as an actor in Surya TV's new serial Paattukalude Paattu , directed by veteran filmmaker Sreekumaran Thampi. Vidhu plays the role of Viswajith, a struggling singer, the son of a once-famous vocalist mother, in this serial on family ties. It also stars K.P.A.C. Lalitha, Vanitha, Prem Prakash, and Lena.
“I had actually never thought about acting as a profession. My only experience of acting thus far – if you can count amateur attempts as ‘experience' – has been participating in a few theatre productions while in college (Mar Ivanios). I had also won a few competitions for monoact while in school (Christ Nagar). It came as a complete surprise when Thampi sir approached me for the role, more so when he told me that he had written the role with me in mind. It would have been sheer arrogance had I refused such an offer. And that too from a seasoned director like Thampi sir, a person who has directed Prem Nazir and Jayan!” says Vidhu.
Cool takes
Not that he was nervous about facing the camera for the first time. “I actually asked Thampi sir if he could hold some sort of an acting workshop so that I could learn some tricks of the trade. He told me to just turn up on set and that he would take care of the rest. He is a focussed director, one who knows exactly what he wants from an actor. Before each shot he takes the time to give a detailed description of the sequence and each character's place/emotions in it, so much so that we come to care for our roles, live our roles, really. And also when working with industry veterans like Lalitha chechi and Vanitha chechi , you naturally learn about acting, especially if you try hard enough to reach their level of perfection,” says Vidhu. “Nevertheless, acting has turned out to be a good experience,” adds the singer who is going places on the playback front too.
AJ... , his song in the Siddharth-Priya Anand-Nitya Menon bilingual starrer 180 Rules Kidayathu , directed by Jayendra and composed by Sharreth, is currently rocking the Tamil and Telugu charts.
Garnering equal applause on this side of the Ghats is the track Ente Mohangal... from the Asif Ali-Nithya Menon starrer Violin , directed by Sibi Malayil, which will be released this week. In fact, his kitty is quite full having already recorded songs for Koratty Pattanam Railway Gate and also for quite a number of untitled flicks in Malayalam. He's also slated to sing in composer Mohan Sithara's next film, which is in the works. And all this is apart from a gruelling schedule of stage shows across the world (he jetted off for a two-week tour of the United States yesterday) and his many TV appearances.
So will this be a ticket to Mollywood? Moreover, does he want it to be one?
“It's way too early to say. The serial is just three episodes in. I've got good feedback from industry veterans like Ranjith sir, but I really don't know if I want to take acting further. Anything is possible,” muses Vidhu, who, for now, seems to be content to bask in the limelight of his melody-filled debut.
