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From
a dancer to a director—Prabhu Deva’s
amazing way up? |
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Those
who ask where Prabhu Deva is today don’t
know much about the guy as he is today—one
of the top directors in the Telugu tinsel town. |
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When
everyone thought that this guy was finished
as an actor here, the guy re-incarnated
in the Telugu field as a director to reckon
with.
Way back, when he became a dancer by default,
he never imagined that one day he would
be considered equal to the artiste or dancer
or director he admired. “I just went
with my father, Sundaram, to the shoot of
a song from Agni Nakshatram. One of the
co-dancers had not come. My father asked
me to join the troupe. I was in my ninth
standard then. I joined the group for the
song Raja, Rajadhirajan Indha Raja. You
would not have noticed me in that,”
says this still bearded dancer-cum-director. |
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Prabhu
Deva became noticed in the song April Mayilae
from the Murali starrer Idhayam. However,
things started moving for him when Shankar’s
Gentleman happened. That was when big heroines
started doing item numbers. Prabhu Deva
paired with Gauthami for the number Chikku
Bukku Chikku Bukku Railae.
It was an extra-ordinary number, his rubber
like body bending rhythmically in unimaginable
ways. It so captured the imagination of
the young moviegoers so much that they forgot
that he had a plain looking face, no muscles
to boot and a two week beard sticking on
his face. |
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With
raw energy and talent so conspicuous, would
Shankar miss him? Prabhu Deva was promptly
roped into Kaadhalan, Premikudu in Telugu,
in the lead role. His pair was none other
than Nagma, at the peak of her charm and
glamour then. It was a hit, a big hit. Offers
came galore and Prabhu Deva too, signed
up left, right and centre. That undid him
for movies like Indu and Love Birds almost
killed his career. “Most of the directors
saw only the dancer in me and thought that
would sell the film. How wrong they were
that they ignored the story part,”
analyses Prabhu Deva. |
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| When
Prabhu Deva realized that the Tamil moviegoers
were now used to seeing his face, he made
the wise decision of moving to the Telugu
field. He took off as a dance master and
graduated to becoming a director. As a director,
Prabhu Deva attained greater heights than
as a dancer or a hero. His movie, Noo Osthavantae
Nean Oddhantaanaa, showed to packed houses.
The guy is now working with the Prabhas
–Trisha starrer Pournami. Expectations
are high of this guy and the film and Prabhu
Deva hopes that he would not let his fan
groups (fans for Prabhu Deva as a director)
down. |
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Raju
Sundaram too, Prabhu Deva’s brother, has
moved to the Telugu field seeing that the scope
for a career as an artiste was becoming slimmer.
His second brother, Nagendra is there in the Kannada
industry, playing small time hero roles. It is
Prabhu Deva who is in the limelight. Will the
other brothers too take up directing? You can’t
rule it out for it was Prabhu Deva who has set
the way so far. |
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