Prabhas in the big league

Almost all superstars from the South haven’t made it big in Bollywood till date. Prabhas is an exception — after the success of and more big budget films like Adipurush and another with Deepika Padukone being announced, he has catapulted into the Ivy Lea

Tollywood superstar Prabhas may have once been someone who was too shy to face the camera, but today he’s a pan-India star, with not only a huge fan following but also the trust of many production houses to turn in a blockbuster.

Several other south stars such as Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh and Ram Charan have attempted to crack the success code in Bollywood only to fail in their endeavour.

Introduced into Bollywood with

Baahubali, Prabhas’ subsequent film Saaho raced into the `100-cr club.

Now, there were big announcements of forthcoming films under T-Series and a Nag-Ashwin film in which he’s paired opposite Deepika Padukone, etc., all of which have catapulted him into the Ivy League of Indian cinema.

WHAT MAKES PRABHAS ONE OF THE BANKABLE STARS’?

Baahubali,Sahoo, RadheShyam,

‘MOST

Prasad Devineni, who co-produced Baahubali, feels that it’s all about economics. While he agrees that the regional markets have opened up, Prasad believes that Baahubali’s success was instrumental in nurturing Prabhas into a pan-India star.

An actor’s personality and character are very significant for his or her rise to stardom, and Prabhas’ affability with costars and filmmakers have only added to his growth. Also, his charismatic persona only seems to be evolving further as he grows in the industry

— Vijayendra Prasad, director

In the same breath, Prasad also points out that a dubbed film becoming the highest grosser in India speaks of Prabhas’ star power.

“I agree one cannot compare the stars or the situations of the ’80’s and ’90’s to Prabhas, but he’s also the only actor doing bilinguals today. I also think only he could make it possible in Bollywood because of the kind of market he has created for himself in Hindi too. So he’s no longer looked as a south hero but a true Indian star,” explains Prasad. “Baahubali broke all the barriers of regional cinema and had Bollywood embracing Prabhas, even other actors in the film found a foothold in other regional films.”

ENDEARING HUMILITY

It would appear that Prabhas has taken the adage “Never let success get to your head” rather seriously. In fact, most of his colleagues in the industry believe that’s how he has been all through his seventeen years’ career in the industry.

Director Vijayendra Prasad, who happens to be filmmaker Rajamouli’s father and has written films such as Baahubali, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, believes that Prabhas’ endearing humility is what has turned him into a pan-India star.

“An actor’s personality and character are very significant for his or her rise to stardom, and Prabhas’ affability with co-stars and filmmakers have only added to his growth. Also, his charismatic persona only seems to evolving further as he grows in the industry,” expresses Vijayendra Prasad, adding, He has a great physique too — which also adds in making him one of the most desirable stars in India. No wonder he’s one of the biggest box office draws in India!”

UNDYING PASSION

Filmmaker Radhakrishna Kumar, who currently directing Prabhas in the period-romantic-drama Radhe Shyam, also has a good word or two about the actor. Describing Prabhas as someone who is level-headed, Radhakrishna points out that the actor also has an undying passion for cinema.

“Prabhas’ commitment levels while shooting in extremely difficult conditions for our film are second to none,” shares the filmmaker. “In the emerging markets, the key to the challenge of staying on top of the game is to thrive on excellence.

After doing films such as the Baahubali series and

Saaho, which are physically exhaustive, showing the same level of commitment for our film is no walk in the park. And

Prabhas’ passion for cinema only dr ives him.” is