Direction is an exhilarating experience

Says multi-faceted personality Prakash Raj as he goes behind the camera to film. He adds, “‘Ulavacharu Biriyani’ is a new generation fun film, which is a romantic tale of two people – a middle-aged archeologist and a carefree youngster, and revolves around food. It’s sweet humour interspersed in a light plot.”

Of late in the news for the wrong reasons, actor Prakash Raj has no guilt in accepting that he is controversies’ favourite child. Nonetheless, he believes that controversies arise only when both parties are involved. Says the actor as we catch up with him in his plush flat at Hyderabad, “ I’ve done some 300 odd films till now but had trouble only with ten filmmakers. If I had problems with every other filmmaker, I’m questionable, but not otherwise. Differences with others crop up because they may not like Prakash Raj, a straight forward person. And I can’t help that because at the end of the day it’s my persona.”

Controversies aside, the actor is waiting to gauge the reaction of the audience as his new directorial venture ‘Ulavacharu Biriyani’ (UB) is scheduled to open in screens shortly. Besides directing the romantic drama, a remake of Malayalam hit ‘Salt n’ Pepper’, the actor has also featured in the film. Prod him on why a remake, he rebuts as he lights his cigarette, “It’s not the question of a remake; it’s whether the film has stirred me. ‘UB’ had all elements that, as a matter of fact, fascinated me. A new generation fun film it is a romantic tale of two people – a middle- aged archeologist (Prakash Raj) and a carefree youngster (Tejus) and revolves around food. It’s sweet humour interspersed in a light plot.”

The concept of featuring and directing the film in three languages – Telugu, Tamil and Kannada – on a parallel note turned out to be a daunting task to begin with, he maintains. “The thought did strike me, but I had a wonderful support staff of 40 members. Since the story was close to my heart, I didn’t find it tricky, but the work was more than usual. However, it turned out to be a work which I liked incalculably, thanks largely to the constant assistance of supporting actors from Telugu, Tamil and Kannada industries,” he avers.

He continues, “I’m getting more time for myself as I’m directing. I’m able to think a lot and apply the thoughts to the film. It has been an exhilarating experience so far,” he states, while adding, “I don’t like repetitiveness. I desire to do something innovative every time and ‘UB’ is an effort on the similar lines.”

His choreographer wife Pony Verma was an added help on the sets, carrying forward his vision. An aspiring filmmaker, besides choreographing the numbers for the film, she has also co-directed the film. “I had a good number of female crew on sets and she was communicating on behalf of them and the other lead actors – Sneha and Tejus. Her expertise came in handy as she, along with the cinematographer, ensured that songs were an extension of scenes,” he smiles.

The three-film old director has teamed up with his favourite composer Ilayaraja for the flick, which he finished in flat 55 days. Heaping high praise on the thespian’s music, he says, “In fact, he has blessed us with his music, taking it to an altogether new level and making me ponder whether I indeed directed the film or not? ‘It’s been sometime since I composed background music of this level’, he said after his work, which he wrapped up in just in 10 days. I have no doubts that he will walk away with the all the laurels. I should file a case against him (laughs out merrily).”

On his association with the legendary composer, he recalls, “He dropped by Hyderabad to do re-recording for ‘Antahpuram’. After catching the film, he suggested minor changes to director Krishna Vamsi before proceeding with his work. His sheer brilliance with the background score was such that I’ve watched the flick many a time closing my eyes.”