His presence on the silver screen is larger-than-life. And his candid nature often lands him in trouble. Prakash Raj, the multi-lingual artiste from the South chooses to ignore the rumours that constantly fly around him. But at the same time, he makes sure that he stands up for himself.
Recently, Raj staged a relay hunger strike in Hyderabad when a few film producers wanted the Telugu film industry to boycott him. Many people know him as the costly artiste. It was alleged that he asked for an exorbitantly high remuneration — more than what a hero normally gets in Telugu films.
However, only a few people have seen the other side of Raj. He acted in the Kannada films ‘Athithi’ and ‘Prarthane’ without taking a single rupee.
Last month, Raj married Pony Verma, a Bollywood choreographer. It was said that both of them started as friends and graduated as lovers before tying the nuptial knot. Excited about his new life, Raj says, “Pony brought me love and affection. She gave me what I craved for. She is like a cool breeze for me. She became my companion when I was a loner.”
Recalling his chat with actress Jayapradha, he said that she was surprise when he told her that the he was marrying a girl from Punjab. “Jayapradha asked me why I chose to marry a Punjabi girl. I told her that only a Punjabi girl has the potential to tame me,” recalls Raj smiling.
It was in 2005 that Pony met Raj on the sets of the Tamil film ‘Ponniyin Selvan’, directed by Radha Mohan. “I was not enthusiastic to meet Prakash Raj when producer AM Rathnam told me about him. But I was impressed by his concern for junior artistes in a song sequence he was doing. He asked me to reduce the number of takes to avoid pressure on the junior artistes,” recalls Pony.
According to Pony, many people in Bollywood consider her a lucky girl for marrying a versatile artiste like Prakash Raj. “I still remember Salim Khan (Salman Khan’s father) holding my hand for 30 minutes as he told me many good things about Raj when I went to give him my wedding invitation,” says Pony.
Envying Raj’s skill to win people’s heart, she recalls an incident where the actor cleaned the floor. “Children spilled some rice on the floor. As soon as he noticed it, he did not hesitate to squat on the floor to clean it. With this, he became a darling of our home. My grandfather loves him too much,” Pony says.
Pony, is widely known for her skills as a fit and lively choreographer. Will she work as a choreographer for Prakash Raj?
“Why not?” comes the reply. It was said that Pony, instead of learning Tamil or Telugu, is determined to learn Kannada. “Pony’s plan is to impress her mother-in-law. I wish her good luck,” says Raj.
He is candid in confessing that he will not sacrifice anything without getting something from her.
Pony will be choreographing for Salman Khan on her birthday (September 15). “I asked Raj whether I could go ahead with the choreography assignment. I did not ask for any gift for my birthday. He also did not reveal what he wanted to give me,” says Pony.
