By now, everyone knows that dancer-choreographer-actor-director Prabhu Deva has a different persona on and off the screen. How do you converse with someone who is part of the Rs. 100-crore club as a director, but is still unassuming and doesn’t spout quotable quotes, and lives in the moment?
Once the ice is broken with a mention of how he spent the holidays with his kids, Prabhu Deva launches into his trademark shy laugh. Any talk of his dancing prowess is brushed off. It’s almost as if he still can’t believe the heights he has scaled.
“I’m a middle-class boy,” he says. “A reluctant dancer. I would cringe when asked to dance. I still remember having to wake up early from Class VI to learn Bharatanatyam. I hated it. There was no escape, as Dharmaraj Master would come home to teach me and my two brothers. But in retrospective, he was my school; he taught me the ABC of dancing. Little did I know then that dance would be my calling.” Later, he studied under Udupi Lakshman Master: “He helped me get a degree in the field. I consider them both my gods.”
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All talk of his effortless footwork is attributed to responsibility and the fact that he has to live up to people’s trust. Mention his yesteryear hits such as ‘ Yakka Yakka ’ or ‘ April Mayile ’, and the graceful movements are met with a happy smile. “But I’ve worked as hard on songs that did not do well. I guess the grace comes from Bharatanatyam.” Known for his inventive movements, he says that when he listens to music, visuals float into his mind. “That’s why I never listen to music at home to relax!”
As talk veers towards his career and the choices he has made, Prabhu Deva says he loves the “travel” more than anything else. “Be it this conversation or a movie, the journey must be pleasant,” he says. “No one knows how people will accept a movie, but we can do it to the best of our ability. That happens when everyone puts in their 200 per cent, and everyone likes the subject.”
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Prabhu Deva also had a fairly successful stint as an actor, with hits such as Kaadhalan , Minsara Kanavu , Kaadhala Kaadhala and Vaanathaippola . Now, he is back in front of the camera in Vijay’s trilingual, Devi . He’s also said to have done a neat job in Thangar Bachan’s yet-to-be-released Kalavaadiya Pozhuthugal . The director has raved about his performance. “I don’t know if I’ve become a better actor or a more sensitive one. But I’ve learnt what not to do. Our experiences affect us, unwittingly. We change. I was impressed with Kalavaadiya ... I told Thangar sir that I’m willing to do all he wants of me.”
He adopted the same logic while working on ABCD and ABCD2 , movies that celebrated dance. “I trusted director Remo D’Souza. In fact, I did not even know the story of the second part. Only after I saw it on screen did I put things together,” he smiles.
The actor-director has been through travails, but never fights fate. “I’ve never sought anything. I never meant to turn director, head to Mumbai, produce, and act in Vijay’s film… These things happened. I don’t map out my future to the minute details.” Prabhu Deva is to launch Season 5 of Godrej Interio’s Upload and Transform through which he redid his parents’ home in Mysore. He says they were pleasantly surprised at seeing a ‘rich man’s mansion’. “Even today, when I head to my parents’ home in Alwarpet, Chennai, I sleep on a mat in a non-a/c room. That’s how we grew up. I don’t forget that.” It’s also why he manages to avoid holding on to the excesses of success. “The same people who praise can turn back and criticise me.”
Spinning dreams
The multi-talented Prabhu Deva is hugely inspired by his father, choreographer Sundaram Master, who moved to Mysore 15 years ago and became a farmer. “He switched to shorts and T-shirts and embraced village life. He walked around in slush… it was a total transformation. Even today, he’s up at dawn, speaking to fellow farmers. I did wonder if it was the right thing to do, but now, I know he was right.”
So, will he follow his father or focus on life under the arc lights? “I’ve never lived the glamorous life. I work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and switch off. My best friends are from school. So yes, when I’m satiated, I just might take the plunge.”
Till then, he hopes to continue spinning dreams and immerse himself in dance.
“I can’t express it, but dance is my world, a very different world.” He does indulge himself when he spontaneously rises to dance in the confines of his house. To a music that plays from his heart.
I don’t know
if I’ve become
a better actor or a more sensitive one. But I’ve learnt
what not to do.
Our experiences affect us, unwittingly.
We change.
Prabhu Deva’s picks
Favourite dances
In my choreography, I’d pick ‘Rakkamma Kaiyathattu’, ‘Konjam Nilavu’ and ‘April Mayile’, even though it did not have too many movements.
The better dancer
I believe my co-stars should dance better than me. I give them lots of importance. But I can’t choose a favourite. That’ll be unfair, because I’m also their teacher —a strict teacher, but I never get angry.
Production dreams
Prabhudeva Studios is to produce Priyadarshan’s Sila Samayangalil; Lakshman’s Bogan, Victor Jayaraj’s Vinothan, and Vijay’s Devi. “These are films I’m very keen to watch. They fall in different genres and have been treated differently.”