Prashant Narayanan, an actor par excellence, needs no special introduction. He is too down to earth to be true. Time & again Prashant has proved his versatility in varied films that too in varied negative oriented albeit dark shaded characters and garnered critical accolades beyond imagination. Indeed he is an actor to be reckoned with as he tackles each roles with an effortless ease. And he has continued in the same veins by portraying the role of a human trafficker in his latest suspense thriller namely FREDERICK.
Right at the outset how about enlightening us with your as usual negative role in FREDERICK which is on the verge of release this week!
Frankly speaking my role in FREDERICK has violent shades beyond imagination but it has far greater depth. You just can’t term it as the same kind of typed and usual role that I or the other actors are compelled to do time & again. My character’s reactions in FREDERICK are out of love & angst. I have enacted the role of a person who gets involved in the racket of human trafficking. I have played many roles in different cinema but Fredrick has something which is unusually different. Cine goers will not be disappointed at all.
Can you narrate briefly what is FREDERICK all about?
Actually speaking FREDERICK is an emotional love story but on the other hand it can also be termed as an intense psychological thriller full of mysterious elements. Besides it is full of family values. There is lot of love & concern for the people. It will enthral the cine goers as well as keep them hooked with its edge of the seat suspenseful moments. It has lot of reactionary actions. You see Shaheen most of the films are action oriented but FREDERICK is mostly reactionary I mean it is reaction oriented. And that is what makes FREDERICK so exciting.
How was it working with a debutant director Rajesh Butalia?
I never had any qualms about working with a debutant director in my earlier movies too. As debutant director brings about a lot of volatile energy on the sets of the film & Rajesh Butalia was no exception. In fact he was more focussed and always acted as a cool dude and it inspired all the actors to give off their best. Rajesh maybe a new director but as far as his vision for the film was concerned they were perfect. He knew what he wanted and he got what he wanted from all of us I mean all the artistes as well as the technicians. Frankly speaking what I like about debutant directors is that they don’t come with fixed notions on the sets. And as I mentioned earlier there was a volatile energy everywhere and believe me Rajesh was very clear of what he wanted. Moreover as a director he brought about a lot of freshness throughout the film. I hail from a theatre background and working with debutant directors or for that matter even actors too was always a learning experience as they come out as extremely confident & talented especially actors who sometimes deliver some memorable performances in the film. For that matter I have played many roles in varied cinema but FREDERICK has something which is unusually different.
And what would you say about your producer Manish Kalaria?
First of all I would say that my producer Manish Kalaria also popularly known as MK is a perfect gentleman and above all a perfect businessman. It was a boon to have a producer like Manish Kalaria. Hats off to him for backing a new director I mean Rajesh Butalia and that too without any interference. In fact he had full confidence in all of us and also give a free hand to director Rajesh Butalia to make the film as per his vision and I believe MK is quite happy with the end product.
It seems that the music of FREDERICK has really impressed you a lot!
You bet! The music of FREDERICK has really impressed me. For the 1st time in my career I have really got carried away with the music of FREDERICK. I am really very happy with the music of the film that has garnered a lot of appreciation. The most interesting song is “Waqt Gaya Tham” sung by KK which has ultimately turned out to be my personal favourite. And you won’t believe it Shaheen when I confess that I have literally blackmailed & pressurised my director Rajesh Butalia, who has also written the lyrics of this song and composed beautifully by music director Sunjoy Bose, to picturise this song on me. Besides the other songs also composed by Sunjoy Bose like “Tera Zikra”, “Rangeeniyan” and above all “Khuda Tune” are also very melodious & foot tapping. And for a change the music does not prove be road block for a thriller film like FREDERICK. In fact it entertains and even enlivens the proceedings of the film FREDERICK.