‘My Hindi doesn’t act as a barrier’

What do you expect to be doing at 8 pm on a Saturday night? Anything but wait two hours for a star cast to arrive. Almost as you exasperate, ‘Enough is enough!’ choreographer-turned-director Prabhu Deva arrives with his dainty aura and newbie Girish Kumar in tow.

What do you expect to be doing at 8 pm on a Saturday night? Anything but wait two hours for a star cast to arrive.

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Almost as you exasperate, ‘Enough is enough!’ choreographer-turned-director Prabhu Deva arrives with his dainty aura and newbie Girish Kumar in tow.

His smile takes you back to the humbleness that delighted your heart when he was in Chandigarh (in February) to shoot a song for his soon-to-be-released directorial venture Ramaiya Vastavaiya.
“I was ready by 8, but I wasn’t asked to come.”

You know you believe him. Getting down to business, Prabhu says, “I was booked for Ramaiya Vastavaiya three years ago; much before I did Rowdy Rathore. Producer Kumar S Taurani approached me saying he wanted to launch his son and that I should direct the film. He was impressed with a Telugu film of mine, Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana. When I heard the name, I laughed, as it happened to be my directorial debut.”

About the title of the film, he says, “They are Telegu words that mean ‘Ram, will you come’. The character of Ram is being played by Girish.”

The perfectionist that Prabhu is, he didn’t let Girish play the lead only because he’s the producer’s son, says he, “Girish auditioned for the role, only then was he selected. Girish has also undergone extensive training for dance and acting for months for the film.”