Srivathsan Nadadhur
New York-born actor, producer Prashantt Guptha has had his fair share of struggles before making a name for himself through films like Issaq and Neerja, but the nearly-decade long wait to make a mark in Bollywood had toughened him up. That’s what Mumbai does to every acting aspirant who comes from faraway lands with boundless enthusiasm and offers a reality check. Weathering through many such storms, Prashantt worked hard to lend authenticity to the limited roles and within the screen time that he had got. The results showed – Issaq, Neerja, The Tashkent Files, web shows Special Ops, Mastram besides short films. His latest digital release is the thriller Regards & Peace. Klapboardpost.com talks to Prashantt about how held his head high during his lows and more in this chat…
Tell us about your growing years in New York…
My childhood in New York is the most beautiful part of my life. When I think of all the difficulties and challenges I face in Mumbai while becoming an actor, I look back at my growing years and tell myself that God had preordained a very beautiful first quarter of (100 years) my life and I am grateful for it. Life in the US, especially in the 80s and 90s, was everything a child could possibly ask for. I can’t think of anything negative. I come from a well-to-do family, had all the luxuries and goods, access to American education blended with Indian upbringing including exposure to Indian cinema, music, religious texts. But for facing racism, which is such a small dot on all the goodness I had experienced, my growing years in the US were nothing short of phenomenal.
You belong to a family that has a firm foundation in the jewellery business. Wasn’t continuing that a natural career choice for you?
Frankly, I was never interested. Yet I can’t deny it would have been natural for me to continue the business. I have a long lineage of jewellers who are placed around the world – India, China, US, Thailand- and I could have easily set shop, had the world at my disposal without having to struggle for anything that I am currently going through in Mumbai. I had been a performer since I was 3. My parents put me up on the stage when I didn’t know anything about it and it turns out that I was good at it. By the time I turned 18, I was sure about becoming an actor.
Did the success of Neerja change your career trajectory?
Neerja did give a huge boost to my career, but Issaq was my first turning point. The film, based on Romeo and Juliet, had released in 2014 and I played the villain in it. The reason I say it’s a turning point because I ventured into Mumbai thinking I would become the quintessential Bollywood hero, with a larger-than-life aura, singing and dancing away to success. Issaq came to me a point of time in my career that I would have had to leave Mumbai if I didn’t do a film that year. My struggle, unemployment lasted so long that I couldn’t have managed without a film – my journey in Bollywood had begun in 2006. Issaq opened me to a new territory, my performance was appreciated and it helped me get more films. Neerja was a game changer by its own means because that’s when media had started recognising me and began writing about me. It was a reminder for me that being seen in a big film, regardless of the length of the role, will take you far ahead in your career.
Regards & Peace, your latest release, is touted to be a taut thriller that’s always on the move. As an actor, do thrillers demand you to be more alert and aware than other genres, given the breathtaking pace at which the narrative progresses?
Irrespective of what film I do, I get into the skin of the role I’m preparing for, from day one – doesn’t matter if I have a week’s time or a month’s time to get ready for it. It’s the reason I don’t have much difficulty during the film schedule, quite possibly the opposite of what most actors would say. I do everything to become the character I play – the way he sleeps, talks, walks and what not! I am very particular about staying in that zone for that duration I shoot.
Getting into the ‘skin of your role’ as you say, means posing a lot of questions to the director?
When a director gives you a script, he already has a vision of the character in his mind. My experience tells me that if something doesn’t work on the paper, it doesn’t work on the screen too. Indian cinema works a little differently and I ask a lot of questions before we start the shoot. I am very responsible about the process – I read the script, I find nuances, I come up with my own ideas and run it by the director. The aspect I look within people I associate with is the courage to do something obnoxious and risk being rejected/turned down for it. When an actor reaches a certain phase in his career, the producer or the director respects their authority to do that. I see a lot of senior actors have the confidence of trying something outrageous and it’s taken very well by the filmmakers. I would want to get to a level where the director or producer would confidently say, ‘Prashantt keh raha hai toh..theek hi hoga’. There is a lot of homework and research involved in my portrayals, but I am hoping for a breakthrough on a bigger level as I progress through my career.
Flora Saini, Sheena Shahabadi, Sadhana Singh are an interesting blend of experience and vibrant energy for a film’s lead cast (in Regards & Peace)…
Flora is an actor whom I’ve known many years before Regards & Peace happened. A long time ago, it was I who introduced Flora to Sanjay Amar but I don’t remember if that’s the reason she was cast in the film. She is an absolute professional, a lovely artiste, while Sadhana Singh (ji) a veteran actress was a wonderful human being to work with; she had a fondness for singing and used to sing on sets often. Her daughter Sheena was a little buddy, she used to come for help or seek advice whenever needed and I was more than happy to do my bit. I detest two aspects on a film set – arrogance and unprofessionalism – and this is one crew that never gave such vibes.
You’ve got a fair share of your fame via the digital medium in the recent months…
Up until last year, I was being asked when I would make my web debut and just as the pandemic began, my show Special Ops had released (which had got me a lot of appreciation) followed by Mastram. And now, my release, Regards & Peace, with ShemarooMe Box Office, completes the arc. With the digital release of my short films, web series, feature films, I’ve got an opportunity to grow on the web front in the span of the pandemic. It’ll take a while before people would feel safe to pay and watch my films or even works of other actors at the theatres. The digital medium is the future and one must accept it as the new norm.
From your experience, how do you distinguish between a good and a poor filmmaker?
Generally, the director’s reputation speaks for itself. When I worked for Shivam Nair and Neeraj Pandey for Special Ops, I knew I was in safe hands. With Ram Madhvani for Neerja, he’d worked on the best ad films made in the country and has directed the who’s who in the industry. I have worked with director Sanjay Amar well before Regards & Peace, he knows his craft and the story he sets out to tell. I had a good rapport with him. It’s not easy to gauge the quality of a filmmaker instantly. A good film/show gets made the script is solid and the technical crew including the cinematographer, editor, composer and sound designer do their job well. And also sometimes, you just get lucky.
A majority of your projects have been thrillers, including your latest release. Do you enjoy them as an audience too?
As an audience, I enjoy any story that has a soul and possibly a message too, regardless of the format it is wrapped in – comedy, thriller, drama. I am genre-agnostic. The kind of person I’m – I get bored very easily and would love to be challenged as a viewer. I switch genres every time, from a drama to a comedy to a thriller. However, I assure you that Regards & Peace is a thriller that will have you glued to your seats.
Isn’t it an additional pressure to seek a ‘message’ out of every film that you do? Ultimately, films are viewed as a source of entertainment in this country…
Films are medium for entertainment, no doubts about that, it’s the first priority! I am more than happy to do a film that’s just entertaining. I haven’t reached a position in my career where I can turn down a film that doesn’t have a message. A film’s responsibility is not merely to send a message across but it’s just a personal choice. I would love it if somebody walked from a film either learning something or understood life in a newer dimension.
Shuttling between Mumbai and New York, do you end up feeling like an outsider in both places?
I do feel like an outsider but not in a pitiful, resentful way, unlike in the past. I see myself as someone who came from a place outside Mumbai minus any typical feudal lineage of the film industry. That’s okay – I’m not a Kapoor, Khan or a Bachchan. I have nothing against them, but I’m happy treading my own path. The first 25 years of my life in the US have been very memorable, but the decade that came later in the film industry has been slightly difficult but that’s fine with me.
You’re a production partner for a Hollywood company called Mulberry. How did this idea germinate?
Having been born and brought up in America, a few of our friends decided to come together to start a production company, in which they would adapt bestselling literature for the visual medium for Hollywood studios and big production houses. I creatively joined them, it began as a startup and we have a few films lined up. It is important to diversify at times, to sustain yourself, hope that a miracle happens and opens you many more doors. I’m happy to be an actor in Mumbai and be part of a production company in the US. I believe it’s one of the wisest decisions I’ve taken.
Can we safely assume that reading this bestselling literature has contributed to your understanding of scripts and the imagination of a character in your other films?
Absolutely! I’m a voracious reader. If you’re fond of reading, it empowers your imagination. The challenge and fun as an actor whenever a script is handed over to you is to take the imagination to a level that the director hasn’t envisioned, recreate something that surprises him. The actor’s job is to embody the character so much the audience feel that the line wasn’t given to him, but it was something that the character had to voice out that moment.
