BANGALORE: Trying to break away from his lover boy image, Prem seems to have succeeded in reinventing himself with his second outing Dalapathi. After Shatru, the actor has surely got a good taste of what a mass movie can bring to his career.
“I would want to move on from just being a lover boy and at this stage of my career, it is better to enter a zone that will interest the masses,” says Prem, adding, “It is not that the fascination for love has faded in me, because even such kind of films have an element of love.”
Interestingly, Dalapathi comes from director Prashanth Raj, who has made romantic entertainers like Love Guru and Gaana Bajaana.
And when you ask Prem whether the combination of a lover boy and a romantic director will go with a title like Dalapathi, he says, “I found Prashanth Raj to be a versatile director. When I was approached by him, I went with a mindset to just listen to the story and return. But I was surprised with his narration. I was so convinced that even though I was busy with three films, I wanted to work out the dates for his film. What was interesting is that he wanted only me as his Dalapathi after watching me in films like Shatru and Chandra. I was glad to get noticed by a director of his stature.” he says.
According to the actor, Dalapathi is a familiar title in South India and carries a lot of weight.
“The character comes with a lot of responsibility. Dalapathi is someone who gives back love to people and fills them with confidence. My character goes along these lines. My feeling about a massy film is not just limited to fights, songs, action, romance and other sentiments. It is also about the message that comes across through the film. So, we are focusing on certain aspects to make it different. We are planning different sequences in terms of fights. I want people to say ‘Dalapathi has arrived’ after they watch the film. Hope it works,” he says.
Apart from Dalapathi, Prem will work on three more films - Fair & Lovely, Male and Mast Mohabbat.
“One song needs to be shot for Fair & Lovely. With Mast Mohabbat, there is one schedule and I have just started Male. Everything looks good with my kitty filled with varied roles,” he says.