“Mani Ratnam approached me for Raavan , but I turned him down. Abhishek (Bachchan) had already been selected… what was there in it for me then?” boasts an airy Prashant Narayanan, recently in the Capital for the promotion of his upcoming movie Mr Singh Mrs Mehta .
Talking about the movie, the Kerala-born actor who has earlier acted in movies like Chhal , Waisa Bhi Hota Hai II , Shadows of Time , Bombil and Beatrice and Via Darjeeling , says it has a fabulous script and deals with serious real-life issues. “The film has a simple yet powerful script. It is a story about four intelligent people who start to discover things in their lives. I play the lead role of Ashwin Mehta, a painter,” he says.
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Prashant describes as wonderful the experience of working with director Pravesh Bhardwaj. “Pravesh never deviated from the original script, was very supportive of the actors and despite all the hindrances, finally came up successfully with the movie.”
Speaking about nudity in the film, Prashant says it is a form of expression and it is only one's intentions that could use it for vulgarity. “Nudity is no vulgarity. There is nothing wrong with it. We are depicting reality here… and reality cannot be depicted only with roses and letters.”
As for the kissing scenes in the movie, he clarifies, “I've kissed 35 times in the movie, but that's just because the movie demands so. We are dealing with reality. I am not trying to do an Emraan (Hashmi) or Mallika.”
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The upbeat actor even goes on to say that Emraan Hashmi is no competition for him. “I don't know how great or small an actor he (Hashmi) is. I never watch his movies… although his songs are good. But he can never match my energy levels.”
He is also very appreciative of Aruna Shields, the lead actress in the movie, who he says is a very confident and bold girl. “Aruna was always very cooperative and helpful.”
Though Prashant claims a deep affinity with art cinema, he makes no bones about enjoying working in commercial cinema, saying, “Who doesn't want popularity and fame?”
Asked about the characters he portrays in movies that always have negative shades, he remarks, “Well that's what suits me the best. I've got the raw macho statement that no other has in him.”
How's that for confidence?