There Is Much More To Prabhas Than Baahubali

Prabhas  made his debut in  2011  with  Eeswar where  he shared  screen space with  Revathi who played his stepmother. The two had   some powerful  confrontational scenes , a  la Anil Kapoor  and Aruna Irani in Beta  Revathy  chewed  up the scenes , quite like Aroona Irani. Eeswar  bombed .

Prabhas’s stardom  didn’t begin with Baahubali.It actually started six years earlier. Before Rajamouli  made Magadheera  he told Prabhas   he was planning another big film.He told Prabhas  just a  four-line story about a South Indian king.Prabhas  was deeply impressed.  However  after Magadheera  Rajamouli   got busy with Eega(Makhee) and Prabhas got busy doing a film called Rebel. It took them one-and-a-half years  to complete their respective films.

  Three years after Rajamouli  first told Prabhas  about Baahubali , Rajamouli gave the star  a full narration.Prabhas  got goosebumps. “What I really liked about the script of  Baahubali was that it wasn’t only about the hero and the villain. The other characters were also fascinating. This was Rajamouli’s first script where all the characters were given equal importance .I was really kicked by the idea of so many characters working so well in one script.”

   Rajamouli asked for a year of  Prabhas’  dates. Prabhas gave him two years.When  he heard the script  he  knew there were things that had never been done.He   knew it was going to take a lot of time. No one had ever attempted anything like Baahubali.

Prabhas   also knew every moment he  give to it will be worth his while.For six months  he did rigorous  physical preparation. He  learnt rock climbing for the romantic song , kick-boxing, horse-riding, sword-fighting…everything.  Prabhas  also had to change his physical  appearance. Before Baahubali  he  was really underweight. Every morning and evening  he worked out to gain a lot of muscles.From skinny to beefy,Prabhas was determined  to gain ‘brawny’ points for Baahubali.

 Recalled Parbhas, “I had to bulk up. A thin warrior was not acceptable to my director or to the audience.I had to look larger than life, like someone who could kill.I specially worked on my arm muscles since Baahubali is supposed to be most powerful in his arms. I was training for almost three  hours every day for six months before shooting started. Once the shooting started there was no time. I’d wake up at 5 pm to get ready for a 7  am shoot and  we’d go on shooting till 10 pm.I had to learn a whole new way of living to play the role. I had to play two different characters of the prince and the warrior. I tried to bring in two different body languages for the roles.They are born and brought up differently and I had to play them accordingly.”

Luckily Prabhas  was  shooting in Hyderabad most of the time. But still it was a good two hours away from home, so  he  didn’t get to go home much during shooting. Cut off from family,  beefed  up and performing very dangerous stunts, Prabhas’ life changed  irrevocably  after  Baahubali.

  After  the release  of  Baahubali   there was  a  ‘Teenon Khan Pareshan’ cartoon regarding his  success but Prabhas denied any  aspirations to usurp the Khan triumvirate. “That’s not my aim. I’ve no plans for Hindi films. To me it  was important to see Baahubali become a big success. After that, if I get good Hindi films, why not? After all the Hindi film industry is the biggest film industry in India.My audience  was  seeing me on screen after 2 ½ years .I think  Baahubali is a film that I will be remembered by.It is a benchmark. It changed my life and career  completely and  I am really thankful for that.My family and fans are also very happy about Baahubali. Yes it’s a benchmark. But I  can’t do that again. I am just trying to  make the  films that would  entertain and hopefully not disappoint the audience.”

  Prabhas’ dream role?  “I am a foodie. But since I am in this  profession I have watch  my  diet. I became  a vegan which my mother didn’t like. But what to do? If I get  a chance to play a character who is  a foodie I will grab it with  both hands.”

That’s some thought for food  on this  unlikely superstar’s birthday who  plays Lord Rama next.Burp re burp.