Father figures

Prabhu, son of legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan, talks about the future and efforts to chart his own course

He is the son of the late South Indian superstar Sivaji Ganesan. Being a superstar's son may have helped him get a job. But more than luck, it was pluck and talent that helped him keep the job.
A big name in Tamil films, he has now ventured into Malayalam films.

The star son was in Dubai for a multi-starrer Malayalam stage show, Hi-Power Golden Dreams, organised by Khalam Stage, Dubai. In an exclusive interview with Gulf News, Prabhu elaborates on his future plans and his career so far.

Ajita Nayar: How did you decide on films as a career?

Prabhu: Both my dad and uncle (the late Shanmugham) were big names in the industry, but they never wanted us to do films. So they sent us off to Bangalore for schooling. But whenever I got back home for holidays, it was only films. Moreover, I never enjoyed studying. So acting was the obvious choice then.

How did you get your first break?

A remake of the Hindi hit, Kalicharan, was being planned. Dad was doing the lead role and they were looking for someone with rugged looks to do the second lead. That's when C.V. Rajaan asked me to do it.

Did your status as a superstar's son help you get offers?

On the contrary. Even for this first film, dad never suggested my name. When producers came up to him, he put them to my uncle to find out if I was interested. He never pulled any strings for me.

Does that mean all your initial offers were based on your performance?

My first few films were definitely because I was Sivaji Ganesan's son. But then I had to work hard to live up to it. And thankfully, I hope, I never let him down. Films I did with Charu Hassan, Suhasini and Chandrashekar really took off well.

Did you feel the need to train as an actor to establish yourself?

When I started doing films, I thought keeping myself busy was important. I never realised the importance of a character or a role in the film. But with each film, I was learning something new. Then when I used to watch dad's films, they were lessons in acting for me. Since I was interested in dancing, I went to a dance school for some training.

You've done a few movies with your father. How was it acting with him?

In the first four or five movies, I just moved with the tide. After a few films, I realised that it was not so easy to get into any kind of role. Acting is tough and one has to do one's homework well.

While shooting for a movie with him, did your father ever advise you on how to go about a role?

He would just make a passing mention of anything that may not have been perfect in a shot. But never did he sit down and advise me on how to do a particular role or what to do. He believed that I should learn on my own, and of course there was the director to direct me. All that he criticised was the awful manner in which I spoke Tamil and of course my excess weight.

Did the fact that the masses had accepted your father's films put any kind of pressure on you to do similar roles?

Not at all. In fact, in the initial stages I never thought of acting seriously. Later on, if at any stage I was stuck while doing a particular role, all that I had to do was to imagine how dad would have done it. Name a character and dad would have played that in any one of his films. That's how I saw it.

There was a phase when many of your movies flopped. How did you get out of it?

All I did then was to take a break for about nine months and do some self-analysis. I realised the importance of good scripts and after that, in a span of about a year and a half, I had about 14 hits. Then En thankachi padchingo and Manasakulil kath vechingo happened.

Don't you think that after the success of Chinna Thambi you got typecast as the thambi in every film and this rustic-lad image ruined your market?

Not exactly. Producers are not fools to invest millions of rupees in a film without knowing whether it will have a successful run. The rustic-lad roles were a hit in most rural centres where the number of theatres is more than in cities. So why should I not do what the people want from me?

Now that you have completed more than 130 films, do you think you have completely come out of your father's shadow?

Only a little bit, because I don't think that in this life I can do the variety of characters he has portrayed on screen. Even today many viewers want Sivaji Ganesan's films or songs to be played on TV. Such is his charisma, and I would never ever want to compete with him or his fame.