He
made his debut under the legendary KB. His initial
foray was into television with Kaiyyalavu manasu,
as the adorable Gururangan. His first feature
film was Duet directed by KB. He played a negative
character in the movie and was instantly noticed.
From there on, he has played villainy with rare
aplomb. His forte is his inimical body language
and articulation. Even in the moderately successful
Appu in which he played a pimp, his performance
was adorable. A thinking actor he is the only
one other than Kamal to invest in fresh cinematic
ventures. His first offering, Azhagiya theeye
was appreciated while he has just released Kanda
naal mudhal.Here are excerpts from a freewheeling
chat with the actor.
Q: Have you ever felt typecast as a
villain?
Prakash:
Please, please. Do not call me just a villain.
I believe that all the roles I played have shown
one or the other human being who lives in some
corner of the world. If you think a villain
is someone who rapes the heroine or is bumped
off by the hero, I wish to say that I have never
really done either in any of my films. Am I
the villain in M. Kumaran or Vasoolraja? Even
in Sivakasi, I played only a negative character,
which was quite realistic.
Q: You are a sensitive producer but at
the same time you play such unbelievable roles.
Why this dichotomy?
Prakash:
Well, I am quite clear about what I do. When I
am the actor my sole concern is whether I can
do justice to the role offered. Cinema is a director’s
medium. The actor is only a small part of it.
As long as I feel confident about my performance,
I stick to my choice of films. But as a producer,
my convictions are different. I wish to bring
to the audience, good, sensible films by talented
youngsters. This is one way of saying thank you
to the wonderful Tamil fraternity which has accepted
me as one of them. I do not claim any big credit
for this. Without them Prakashraj would have remained
a nonentity.
Q:
Whom do you blame for this – the audience? Prakashraj:
Definitely not. The audience is too smart and
they know real from fake. It is the responsibility
of everyone in the industry to give them good
fare. Show me one instance where a good film was
rejected.
