Growing in a family and environment that always encouraged acting and theatre, Prakash Belawadi had no ambitions of becoming an actor or a director in his initial days. It happened when he stumbled upon a role when someone else wasn’t available and we’re happy that we found such a brilliant actor, director and scriptwriter amongst us. His debut English film, Stumble, incidentally also won him the Indian National Film Award for Best feature film in English. He chats with us in this candid interview on his latest Bollywood film, Airlift making waves across the world and his other passions.
“I had to prepare like one does for any film role, but I must mention that the director, Raja Krishna Menon who has also written the story had immense clarity and vision. He was also very sensitive and open and lets you in on any decision and makes you feel like the whole act is collaborative. He had a gifted team of cinematographers, background music, editing and a great team of cameo actors like Purab Kohli, Kumud Mishra and my wife in the film, who is an accomplished Malayalam actor. Most of the prep work was done with a detailed script and we knew exactly what to do. Akshay has an aura about him and he was always so friendly on the sets. He’s full of jokes with a great sense of humour and his comic timing is fantastic. Nimrat is fairly new in the industry, but is rising very quickly. We spent a long time on location at different places across UAE, Rajasthan and other places and were like a family,” he reveals.
He plays the role of George, a middle-aged man who is so easily irritable that he’s almost endearing, stating, “Everyone was tweeting about how I’m like Kejriwal and it’s hilarious. There was a meme somewhere that said, ‘Ek lakh sattar hazaar logon ko le aate par isko wahin par chod dete to achha hota.’ My role was to be annoying and I’m glad I did that well. Also, I’m glad it came after the acidly funny role with Irrfan Khan in the film Talvar as there it is light and cool and here it’s a different shade. When I acted in Shoojit Sircar’s Madras Café, I couldn’t speak two words in Hindi, but now it has improved.”
Revealing how it all started, the engineering graduate adds, “I was only nine when the Suchitra Film Society was born but in the last six to seven years, I’ve been really active with the Academy as its managing trustee. We’re also launching a film school in July this year where I will also be taking classes for direction, script writing and acting. I grew up surrounded with acting and theatre from childhood. I acted in two films as a child. Girish Karnad gave me a role 15 years ago. Next week, I’m directing a play which is an edgy comedy on sexual harassment in a corporate set up. I’ve also just said yes to three Kannada films.”
Confessing how theatre and teaching are his passions, he rues, “Bengaluru is my first love. This time I was at Biffes moderating a session with Suhasini only for a day. Suchitra film society had first built the brand, but now it’s a government festival so I don’t enjoy it that much. I wish they take it to Mysore and we can run it here in Bengaluru, but I’m not criticising them as they are all my friends.”
