One of the much anticipated projects of this year in M-town was the Pratap Pothen directorial with Dulquer Salmaan in the lead and Anjali Menon as the screenwriter. But, one month back, the director himself announced that he was dropping the project owing to creative differences with the screenwriter. Now, the actor-director is all set to move on by concentrating on his acting career, but in Kollywood.
Recollecting the incident which forced him to drop the project, Pratap says, “I have been working on that project for around one year. The basic story was written by Anjali herself. Though I liked the subject, I did not like the screenplay she narrated first. I asked her to change many things in the screenplay — especially in the second half. In the meantime, I too worked on a screenplay based on the same story. But even when she came with the final draft, I did not find any change. More than that, she had not made the corrections I had suggested.”
The director says that he has dropped the project and was not ready to work with the screenplay he wrote. “No, I cannot work with that screenplay. In fact, my main aim was to do a film in Malayalam where I have directed three films. In the mean time, I could direct around 10 films in Tamil. So when I came back to my mother tongue as a director after Oru Yathra Mozhi, my main agenda was to direct a film which can entertain each and every audience. It had to be a memorable project in the industry like my previous films Oru Yathra Mozhi, Rithubhedam and Daisy. You know what; I have invested more than a year for the same project. Now there is no point in going ahead with it,” says the director, who is all set to do the lead role in a Tamil film titled Vediappanude Vinodha Vazhakku.
On his new assignment, he says, “Majority of the films I have done in my career is in Tamil. I am still active here as an actor. It was around a few months back that I got a call from Govind Nihalani, who was ready to start his Tamil film Vediappanude Vinodha Vazhakku. He offered me the title role of Vediappan. Along with the role, the story is also very interesting. The film, a social satire, is being told through the life of my character.”
Apart from this project, Pratap has acted in a film with Arvind Swamy and is gearing up to share screen space with yesteryear actor Karthik in Rajeswar’s upcoming film.
Pratap has also appeared in a short film Ima along with Menaka Suresh. “It is a wonderful short film. When I saw the first cut, I felt proud about its director Liju. I got the chance to watch that film as a jury member of Nalaaya Iyakkunar reality show through which directors Karthik Subbaraj, Nalan Kumarasamy and Alphonse Puthren came to the industry,” says the director.
Quizzed about his next directorial, he says “As of now, I have not confirmed anything. I am going to Canada in a few days and will take any decision only after the trip.”
