He’s playing the bad cop with a mean streak in Fine Focus and Red Giant’s production Nedunchalai. And Bollywood actor Prashant Narayanan is simply loving it. “I want to work on another 100 Tamil films,” he says.
Originally from Kerala, Prashant’s tryst with fame happened when he hit the Bollywood scene. With over 30 films to his credit and notable performances on TV in shows like Parivarthan, Shagun and Bandini, Prashant is happy to enter K Town now. “ In Nedunchalai, I play a ganja-smoking cop who is a real mean chap and highly unpredictable,” he says. So how did he get his K Town break? “Director Krishna saw my performance as a menacing eunuch who is a psychopath killer in Murder 2 and came to Mumbai to meet me. Krishna had directed Jillinnu Oru Kadhal, which starred my good friend Bhumika and Surya, an actor I like. I loved some of the songs of that film as well. So, I was familiar with his work. When I heard the story and my role, I agreed instantly. I like working with new people. It generates a lot of new energy within me to give my best,” he adds.
Exploring new territories is something that he seeks constantly. “I’ve acted in a Malayalam film called Unnam and now I am also in Edavapathi with Manisha Koirala. It is directed by Lenin Rajendran,” he reveals. In 2003, he was the lead in the Academy Award winning German director Florian Gallenberger’s Bengali film called Shadows of Time. The film was set in Kolkata and he had to take lessons in Bengali for his role. “In Nedunchalai too, I have dubbed for myself in Tamil because it adds extra impact to the character I play,” he says with a smile.
Talking about the experience of working in Neduchalai, which was shot mainly on the highways and in Theni, he says, “The sun and the heat on the highways, drained a lot of energy. Usually, I’m used to hearing Hindi spoken around me, so getting used to Tamil all around was new. I picked up the language and started conversing with everyone in Tamil. Now that I’m familiar with this working environment, I want to do many more films here.” Looks like his wish has been granted, for Prashant has already been signed up for his second Tamil film titled Naan Thaan Siva that will be directed by Paneerselvam. Looks like Prashant is the next flavour in the long line of Kollywood villains sourced from B-Town like Vidyut Jamwal, Ashish Vidyarthi, Manoj Bajpai, Sonu Sood, Rahul Bose, Sudhanshu Pandey, Miliind Gunaji and their ilk. But now, he is in a dilemma with two films releasing on the same day — one in Hindi, titled Dishkiyaaoon with Sunny Deol and Nedunchalai, starring Aari. Nedunchalai is releasing on March 28 with music by Engeyum Eppodhum fame Satya and camerawork by Rajavel Oliveeran “I’m very happy, but I’m wondering how to balance being in Chennai and Mumbai at the same time for both films,” he signs off.