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'I lose whatever fire I have for the character and the film, in the waiting itself'

Prabhu Deva. Click for bigger pic!

Back to choreography. You said only choreography gives you satisfaction. If that is so, why don't you choreograph more?

I feel extremely bad about the situation I am in now. I want to choreograph badly. But if I go back to choreography, people might say, 'See he is a disaster as a hero. That is why he has become a dance master again'. People love to talk like this. But I feel terribly disturbed and unhappy. Won't you feel bad if you cannot do what you enjoy and what you are good at? I feel I am wasting my time. Somebody, I feel guilty too because I cannot share what I know.

Did anyone ask you to choreograph for other actors? Or, are they reluctant to call you because you are a big hero?

Even now, people do ask me to choreograph for other heroes. But I am confused very, very confused. I feel awful because dance is what I really want to do. I feel miserable when people ask me to choreograph. I feel miserable not because they are calling me but because I cannot do what I enjoy the most. Nothing makes me as despondent as this situation.

Is it not because you give more importance to other's opinion that you cannot do what you enjoy the most? Wouldn't you be happy if you did what you like?

What you say is true. But I am not that mature. Sometimes I too feel that I should do what I like and should not be bothered about other's opinion. I really do not know what to do. I am confused. After all, I am human. May be after sometime, after a few years, I may feel differently. But I do not know when I will get that wisdom and common sense (laughs).

So, now your ego prevents you from choreographing for other heroes.

You are right. My ego is what dissuades me from doing what I enjoy.

You are always with a beard. Doesn't that put some restriction on you as an actor?

I cannot imagine myself without a beard. All the other actors are without a beard. Does that put any restriction on them? I like to be like this. I feel handicapped if I have no beard.

You said earlier that these days nobody works hard. Why do you feel so?

I like to work hard. I like everybody to work hard. I start a film with the intention to really work hard but you see only indifference and listlessness on the sets. That really puts you off.

Do you feel, that is the reason why we have very few hits these days?

Definitely. My belief is that if you work hard, you will see the results.

What kind of an actor are you? Do you a lot of groundwork before you start portraying a character?

I do nothing, nothing at all. I just go there and do what the director asks me to. So, your performance depends on the director. If the director is hard working and sincere, others in the unit will be. But no director puts in that extra effort. Only if the director narrates the character and the story in detail to the artists, we can prepare in advance. But who does all that?

But I do a lot of preparation for a song. Nothing will be there in my mind for several days except the song. I will be fully involved in the project. We do many rehearsals and see that the song comes out beautifully. AS an actor also, I expect the same kind of dedication from everyone. I go to the sets by 6.45 for a 7 o'clock shoot.

But nobody will be there. I wait, wait and wait for the others to come. I lose whatever fire I have for the character and the film, in the waiting itself. If I ask someone, why don't you come early? They say, 'This is the world of cinema and this is the way it functions.' Even directors talk like this. The situation is very bad, very, very bad.

Do the artists come late for the song rehearsals too?

I will never tolerate that. There I am the master and I am very strict about discipline and punctuality. That is the reason why song picturisations are good. I feel hard work brings you rewards, if not today, at least tomorrow. Okay, you may say that the success and failure of a film is not in our hands but let me ask, is it not our duty to work hard?

Was the situation this bad when you started your career as a choreographer?

I was only a choreographer then and I was very particular about my work. I had no idea about what happened later. I finished the songs of a film and moved on to another film. And I was very busy in those days. I got a taste of this casual attitude only after I started acting.

Recently you acted opposite Kamal Hasan in Kadhala, Kadhala. What kind of an experience was it? Kamal Hasan is supposed to be a disciplined actor. Could you learn anything from him?

With Nagma. Click for bigger pic!

He works so hard. He is fully dedicated to his work. That is the reason why he reigns supreme even now. He is such a perfectionist that he does several rehearsals. What is appealing about him is that although he is acclaimed as a great actor, he wants to achieve more, wants to experiment, wants to learn more.

Even if it is a small scene, he doesn't do it causally. He tries out various possibilities before giving the final shot. Each rehearsal is a step for him to improve, improvise and achieve perfection. His dedication to work was such a great inspiration for me that I worked even harder. You feel so small when you see the amount of hard work he puts in for each shot. It is not necessary for an actor of his calibre to work so hard but he does. That is why he is so great.

Are you not interested in producing musical albums?

Yes, I am interested because an album will be my own effort, my own work. I will have the full freedom to create what I really want to.

When Michael Jackson came to India, you could meet him personally. How did it happen?

It was only because of Bharat Shah and Anupam Kher. Anupam Kher is a good friend of mine. The first time I met him was after he talked about me at a Filmfare award function. Then we worked together in a film called VIP. Thus started our friendship. I had told him earlier that I was a great fan of Michael Jackson.

So, when Michael Jackson came to India, he called me from Bombay and asked me to come over. I started immediately. Then it was Bharat Shah who took me to meet Michael Jackson.

Were you excited? Did Michael Jackson know about you?

God! He didn't know who I was. How could he? I was only another fan who wanted to meet him. But I was damn excited. Bharat Shah told him that I was also a dancer. He said okay, okay. Then he asked me my name... That's all.

Was it a disappointing experience or...

Aiyayo! No. No. How can you call it a disappointing experience? Didn't I see him in person? Didn't I talk to him? Had I not met him, had I not talked to him, it would have been disappointing.

Why I asked the question was because you said he didn't talk much.

He didn't talk much but he talked. That was enough. More than enough for me.

Is he your hero even now?

Yes, even now, he is my hero. I like everything about him. His movements, his concepts, the audio, the video, the other dancers who dance with him... Yes, I like everything about him.

When you look back, are you satisfied with the way you career as a hero has shaped up?

When a film of mine runs well, it is fine. If it doesn't run, it affects those who are close to me. But it does not affect me at all because I know what happens on the sets., I know whether the people involved in the film are honest or not.

Does your father get disappointed?

Of course.

What about your brothers?

Definitely. What are brothers for but share everything? Are we not Indians? But I will tell you one thing. They are also extremely busy and we never talk about our work at home. We haven't discussed about our work at all although we eat together, watch TV together and sit together but we do not carry our work home.

Do you have any ambitions, any goals to reach?

I do not know. I don't think I have any ambitions. To tell you the truth, I do not know.

Are you confused now?

No, I am not confused. If everybody connected with a film worked very hard and the film did not run it would have made me confused. I would have asked myself, even after working so hard, why didn't it succeed. Now I know the reason for the failures.

When Minsara Kanavu was being made, were you confident that it would run well? It was a successful film, wasn't it?

It was very successful in the cities but did not run that well in the rural areas. But I have a soft corner for the film because that was the film, which gave me a good name. Rajiv Menon worked very hard for the film.

What kind of roles do you prefer, comedy or serious roles?

I like comedy because we are entertainers. I feel happy when I can make people happy. It could be because I started my career in the dance field. Generally, people are happy to see dances. I just want everyone to be happy.

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Solo pics of Prabhu Deva by Sanjay Ghosh