Mohanlal's Thudarum co-star Prakash Varma is a master ad man who created viral Vodafone ads, worked with Shah Rukh Khan

Tharun Moorthy's film Thuduram features Prakash Varma as the antagonist, marking his acting debut after a successful advertising career.

Tharun Moorthy’s latest film Thuduram, starring Mohanlal and Sobhana, introduces a fresh face as the antagonist. Making his acting debut in the film is Prakash Varma, a celebrated ad filmmaker known for his work with stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, and Anushka Sharma. He’s also the creative mind behind Vodafone’s iconic ZooZoo commercials. Here's everything you need to know about him. (Also Read: Thudarum movie review: A top-form Mohanlal shines in fan boy Tharun Moorthy's gripping directorial)

Prakash Varma's ads features Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma and even Vodafone’s famous ZooZoos.

Who is Prakash Varma?

Prakash Varma founded Nirvana Films with his wife, Sneha Iype, in 2001. He hails from a Malayali family, and his ad firm is based in Bengaluru. Before that, he worked with Malayalam filmmaker Viji Thampi and ad filmmaker VK Varma.

Prakash has directed campaigns for top brands such as Bisleri, KitKat, iPhone, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Vodafone over the years. He has also made tourism ads for Kerala and Dubai that garnered attention. In 2009, Michael Bay's advertisement film production house, The Institute, also brought him on board to direct commercials. Shah Rukh, Anushka, and Deepika are some of the actors he has worked with.

According to the Nirvana Films website, the founder, partner and principal director is “completely consumed by craft. He is a keen observer of people and their quirks.” The website also states that “He loves to hear a script narrated to him as opposed to him reading it by himself. Simple storytelling and working with actors to extract performances and bring nuances alive keeps him restless and sleepless.”

Prakash Varma’s role in Thudarum

In Thudarum, Prakash plays CI George Mathan, a character who comes across as unassuming and unimportant to the story. He is also sketched out as a do-gooder likely to have limited screen time. However, as the film unfolds, George is unmasked as cold-blooded, ruthless and vicious.

Many who watched the film were all praise for his performance. His Instagram is filled with comments of how people ‘hated him’, which shows how well he performed. “He came and he ruled,” read one comment, while another said, “Lalettan finally met his match.”