Prajwal steps away from playing 'hero'

PC Shekar, the director of the upcoming Kannada film Arjuna, is one among the many software engineers-turned-film personalities in Sandalwood lately. Watching the Tamil film Pithamagan proved to be the turning point for Shekar. “My brother, Rajendra, played a role in that film. I was in college and I would hang out on the set sometimes. While I was there, I watched Bala sir (the director) and I felt that I too can do this.My family, of course, said I was insane to think I could do what the legendary director was doing, but the seed was sown. While still at college, I worked on a short film titled You Are My Friend. It would not be wrong to say that the film went viral — for in those days, whoever had a CD writer was in demand, and he would spend time making copies of the film and selling it. The film reached Adyar Film institute and they liked the work so much that they invited me over, gave me an award and even had me share my experience with their students. Another short film later (My Imagination — which featured one actor and a simulated character based on his imagination), and Shekar was on his way to making feature films. While the first one — a Tamil film called Kadhale Yen Kadhale, did not fare too well, it took him a few Kannada ones before he tasted success at the box office. “I attempt to work on different kinds of stories each time I make a film. This time around, for Arjuna, I have tapped into two generations from the same family — Prajwal Devaraj and his father, actor Devaraj. However, this is far from what you would call a hero-centric commercial film. This is a murder mystery and I had informed Prajwal that he would need to play a character, a real person, rather than the hero that he is often used to playing. Even the body language had to be subdued, and very unlike that of a hero,” explains Shekar. Working with the father-son duo, who appear onscreen together for the first time, was interesting too, says Shekar, because, “the two approach work so differently. When Prajwal is around, the set is quite jovial, and when Devaraj is around, it is totally work-oriented. Devaraj has a lot of questions — it was almost like being answerable to a senior member of the family at home,” says Shekar, who adds that the performances of both the actors are to be looked forward to.