Five National Awards. Best Actor ( Kancheevaram ). Best Supporting Actor ( Iruvar ). Best Film ( Puttakkana Highway as producer). With credentials like these, any wonder that Prakash Raj strides the film realm with such supreme confidence? And when it comes to direction, this multi-faceted showman started in one language, graduated to a bi-lingual and is now ready to launch the trilingual Un Samayal Araiyil .
And sure enough, in this latest outing, Prakash Raj is saying, if music be the food of love, play on… The film is on food and love, two passions that are very important to the man.
Feel good foodUn Samayal Araiyil (Tamil), ( Ulavacharu Biriyani in Telugu and Oggarane in Kannada) is the remake of the hit Malayalam film Salt N’ Pepper . But Prakash Raj has tweaked it just enough to address the sensibilities of each of the audiences in the three states. “Most importantly, it is the content and premise of the story, which address two things that I personally believe in — food and love. It is the story of four people, with the main focus on the lead pair, played by me and Sneha. They are two individuals with their own life and perceptions. What brings them together is food and their love for food through which their own love for one another blossoms subconsciously. It is only when another individual comes into their life do they realise their own loneliness. The script is a little complex in that while the audience will know what is happening and will root for the couple, the characters themselves will be oblivious to the fact that they should be together. Overall, the film is a feel-good entertainer, a light romantic comedy that could happen to anyone in real life,” says Prakash Raj.
Missing the greasepaint? As a creative producer, Prakash Raj clearly calls the shots. Donning the director’s hat, he is in full command of his ship. But as an actor he has to follow the dictates of the script. How does he handle it? When Prakash Raj faces the camera, whether it is for his own film or for another director, he sheds the rest of his caps. “Acting is my profession and I think as long as I live that will be the foremost. But it is the actor in me that feeds my passion for making films — both producing and directing. I don’t make films beyond my means and that is probably why you may not see a big-budget extravaganza from Prakash Raj Productions. I am happy that I am making a variety of films in different genres and the satisfaction comes from the fact that most of them are critically acclaimed; never mind if they have not been box office hits. As an actor, I may not have always done roles to my liking. But if other directors feel that I can do justice to a role that they have conceived, I give them my best just as I would expect any actor to deliver for my own film. It also proves that, as an actor, I have it in me to portray different characters,” he says.
So, what’s next? The making of this trilingual has given me the confidence to handle more challenging projects. Since I am comfortable in all four South Indian languages, my next film may be a quadrilingual one. Many of our actors are well known across all four languages, so it becomes easy to cast. Having done roles in Hindi films, I am quite familiar with the Bollywood scenario as well. So, adding Hindi to the mix may not be too difficult. (Incidentally, Prakash Raj holds the Hindi remake rights to Salt N’ Pepper ). It is not just regarding being ambitious, but also being adventurous; as a filmmaker, I do have to take on some challenges to satisfy my creative urge. At present, I’m waiting for the release of the trilingual and the audience verdict. I hope it will give me the impetus to take up bigger and even more ambitious projects,” he says. Knowing his versatility, surely it will.