He isn't another import to Malayalam cinema who has little clue about the language. Prashant Narayanan emphasises: “I'm very much a Malayali. I can read, write, and speak Malayalam. It is just that I don't get to use the language much.”
A native of Edakkad in Kannur, the actor is the surprise package of his Mollywood debut film, Sibi Malayil's ‘Unnam.' His Tomy Eappan, owner of a club, has been noticed despite a lukewarm response for the movie. In addition, Prashant has also dubbed for the character and his slang has been appreciated.
“My posters are all over,” he says. Although the film, a remake of the Hindi movie ‘Johnny Gaddar,' has drawn flak – which hurts Prashant– he is happy that “his work has been appreciated. My parents, K. Narayanan and Santha, who live at Edakkad, liked it.”
He adds: “I was chosen for ‘Unnam' probably because of my performance in ‘Murder 2,' as a psychopath-cum-sadistic killer that won rave reviews. Also, my name sounded very Malayali!”
Prashant was brought up outside Kerala, owing to his father's job. A State-level badminton player in college in Delhi, he was part of a theatre group named Act 1, along with actors such as Ashish Vidyarthi and Manoj Bajpai. Then he shifted to Mumbai where he assisted art director Sameer Chanda, worked as costume director in the TV serial ‘Chanakya,' and later shifted to direction and worked with Govind Nihalani, Subhash Ghai and Shyam Benegal.
“Television came calling with ‘Parivartan' (Zee TV), which actually brought a parivartan (change) in my life,” he says. Serials such as ‘Farz,' ‘Gatha,' ‘Kabhi Kabhie,' ‘Jaane Kaha Jigar Gaya Ji,' ‘Shagun,' and ‘Phulwa,' make his small screen career.
Career graph
His career graph records some 20-odd films, many of which haven't made quite an impression at the box office.
So, was it talent wasted? “No! I've no complaints. It's been 18 years under the arc lights and I'm absolutely happy. People think 20,000 times before giving me a role because they know I'm an impatient person! Even now each movie gives me sleepless nights, I look forward to each work with the same amount of passion and excitement I had in the beginning,” he says.
He has acted in ‘Shadows of Time,' a romantic Bengali-German film, shot in Kolkata by Academy Award winning director Florian Gallenberger. Then there are movies such as ‘Bombil and Beatrice,' ‘The White Elephant,' and ‘Peter Gaya Kaam Se,' which haven't had a wide release. “But, they are close to my heart,” he says. Prashant is currently working in ‘Main Nahin Anna,' ‘Cigaratte ki Tarah,' and ‘Dishkiyaon.'
The actor has been exploring other territories as well, such as singing – he has sung in the movie ‘Bhindi Bazaar.'
He will soon bring out a Hindi music album that he has composed and sung for. “Direction is something I would like to do someday,” he says.
A regular viewer of Malayalam movies – ‘“Pranayam' was the last one I saw, I like Lal [Mohanlal]”– Prashant definitely would like to do more movies in Malayalam.
